The 8th Year
by Holz9364
Summary: The trio return for an 8th year. NOT CANON. Starts as canon, becomes Draco/Hermione & Harry/Daphne. House unity is promoted, there is a situation every week, drama, drama, drama! AU post-DH. Rated M for sexual themes & the f word!
1. The Letters

_The 8th Year  
><em>

_**A/N - The trio and co go back to Hogwarts for an 8th**__** year! I'm writing a canon fic! This is set after DH part 2 with Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, Neville/Luna, Draco/Daphne and many many more. Not all are canon obviously but the main two (H&G and R&H) are!**_

_**So this should be fun to write and I hope you enjoy reading it!**_

_**I wont update this till im finished "Into the Past" so i made the first chapter extra long and Im going to see what people think before I decide how long to make this fic or if i should continue it. :)  
><strong>_

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything except the idea!**_

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><p>"Harry, Ron, Hermione! Dinner's out!"<p>

The familiar voice calling up the stairs brought the three people sitting on the floor of the attic room out of their thoughts. They hadn't been speaking to each other much that day, with all that was going on it was nice to be able to sit in silence to think, or read a book, just to be left alone with your thoughts.

Without words the three occupants of the room got up and walked soundlessly downstairs to a very different dinner scene than had been the usual lately. The table was not set for 4 or 6 as it usually was. Instead it was set for 11 and had been extended. The room was a little cramped and crowded but Harry found he preferred this to the usual miserable affair that was dinner.

The entire Weasley clan was there and Harry noticed immediately that they all looked rather cheerful which again was a big difference, frowning and glancing at his equally perplexed best friends Harry took his seat between Ginny and Ron. Ginny's hand found his under the table and her fingers entwined themselves with his, he gave her a subtle smile which she returned. Verbally nothing had really happened between the two of them, neither of them had talked about their relationship since the final battle but little gestures like this had become common lately and Harry found he did not mind.

Mrs. Weasley stood up from the head of the table and smiled genuinely around the family, Harry felt a small smile tugging at his own lips, he had missed the motherly figure and was glad to see her truly smiling again.

"Now I arranged this family dinner to fix things." Mrs. Weasley announced, her voice strong but the pain in her eyes not quite gone yet, "I know the last 2 months have been hard for us all but we've let it pull us apart instead of bring us together so these full family Sunday night dinners will continue in honour of Fred."

Harry snaked an arm around Ginny's shoulders as he saw the tell tale signs of her grief, a pained look in her eyes and the fact she had clenched his hand a little harder. Ginny seemed surprised at the public display of affection but leaned into his shoulder all the same.

Mrs. Weasley caught sight of the exchange and positively beamed which made Harry blush a little, but he did not move.

George spoke up, "Speaking as the person who knew Fred better than anyone, I know for a fact he wouldn't be happy at the way we've been coping, moping around and withdrawing into ourselves isn't the right way to get through this. We need to get on with our lives, personally carrying on the jokeshop makes me feel close to Fred, like its his legacy and I know he'd feel the same about everyone else. You can't feel guilty about going to work or going out to have fun because that's not what Fred would have wanted."

George had spoken emotional words and most of the tables occupants had teared up, including Ginny, Harry suspected as she had burrowed her face into his chest.

Mrs. Weasley wiped her eyes and nodded in agreement with George, he had been coping particularly well with the loss of Fred but Harry assumed it was because he understood how to honour Fred and miss him but without giving his life up, he'd known Fred better than anyone as he himself had said and understood the situation better than the others.

That didn't mean they hadn't been coping at all. Mrs. Weasley had burst into tears whenever something reminded her of Fred for a good 6 weeks of the two months that had passed and Mr. Weasley had been slightly withdrawn. Ron had suffered very much to begin with but mysteriously a night spent with Hermione had brought about a drastic change. Harry still wasn't sure what had happened, he'd been kicked out of the room he shared with Ron so Hermione could talk to him alone and he'd ended up falling asleep in a sleeping bag on Ginny's floor but Hermione hadn't left the room all night. He and Ginny had joked about what had gone on but the two of them swore that all they did was talk all night.

Charlie and Bill who had always been close to the twins had struggled just like everyone else but it seemed through helping George with the jokeshop they coped like he did. Percy too had decided to work with his brother, he had quit his job at the Ministry immediately after the final battle and had signed to take Fred's place as co-owner of the shop. He had taken the loss of his brother very hard for two reasons, he had only just gotten him back, and he blamed himself for Fred's death.

Harry sighed at his thoughts, it had been two weeks before the effects wore off for Ginny but she had handled it pretty well and was back to herself by now, sort of, Harry knew she'd never be quite the same again after what happened.

Mrs. Weasley was talking again and this brought Harry out of his thoughts to pay attention to what was being said, "So tonight we put the past behind us and celebrate good news. Fleur dear the spotlight is now yours." Mrs. Weasley sat back down and everyone turned their gaze to Fleur who gave them all a dazzling smile and threw her hair back away from her face, it shimmered in the evening sunlight streaming through the window and Harry thought for a moment that she looked like she was actually glowing.

"Bill and I would like to tell you all that we are expecting a baby. A leetle girl." Fleur told them all, her accent still heavy but her English now much better than when they had first met.

This news brought applause and congratulations and everyone agreed the best way to celebrate was to eat and toast the happy couple, and they did just that, and it was that evening that Harry knew that things in the burrow were going to go back to normal, well as normal as they could go since the death of Fred.

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><p>"Harry. Harry, Harry."<p>

Harry had the feeling of being prodded by something sharp in his side but he was too tired to open his eyes or tell the prodder to stop so he just grunted and was surprised to hear a very feminine chuckle come from somewhere next to him.

This woke Harry up, his eyes flew up and he sat bolt upright in his camper bed on the floor of Ron's room. Ginny was sitting next to him, her head cocked to the side as she watched him in amusement.

"Ginny! What are you doing here?" Harry asked in surrprise, pulling the cover on his camper bed up slightly, it had been a hot night and he'd slept without a pyjama top on."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Its nothing I haven't already seen." She teased causing Harry to blush, Ginny smiled radiantly at him, "Ron and Hermione are downstairs, they both tried and failed to wake you so they asked me to come up and try. Mum says your to go downstairs and make sure you eat something because she's planned a Quidditch match today to boost moral."

Harry nodded vaguely and looked a little awkwardly at Ginny, "Can you…um, leave, so I can get changed?" He asked and Ginny smirked, "Sure, see you at breakfast." She said as she left the room. Harry immediately jumped up and dressed in record time. 5 minutes later he walked into the kitchen to a home cooked breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausages from Mrs. Weasley."

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley." Harry said as he tucked in to the delicious food, all of the Weasley children were around the table eating and holding conversations amongst themselves about the Quidditch game and what the team should be.

"I want Harry." Bill said after agreeing he was captain of one team and Charlie was captain of the other.

"I want Ginny." Harry said, blushing at the chuckles that went around the table, "I mean on my team, she was my chaser in her 5th year, she's good."

Charlie smirked at the embarrassed boy who lived, "She was your chaser longer ago than that Harry." He said again causing chuckles.

Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes good naturedly and said, "Oh hush, leave them be."

Charlie did so but Bill and George kept making irritating hand motions about how Ginny loved Harry behind his Mothers back.

The talk however soon went back to Quidditch and by the time breakfast was over the teams had been decided. Bill had Harry, Ron and Ginny on his team, he and Ginny were chasers, Harry the seeker and Ron the keeper, they had decided to forgo beaters. Charlie was the keeper of his team with Hermione and George as chasers and Percy as the seeker.

The plan was to get changed, grab their brooms and play after breakfast but the post arrived as a distraction. These days Harry got a lot more post than usual even with the ministry checking his letters to make sure he wasn't being sent anything cursed from angry followers, all the non-dangers packages still came through.

Today however many letters were dropped onto the table by a ministry mail owl and one large package was dropped carefully in front of Mrs. Weasley who smiled ruefully and opened it, "It will be the new clock." She told them. After the war they hands had not moved from mortal peril and Fred's hand had fallen off which had caused Mrs. Weasley to cry all day as she carried it around.

However Harry recalled a hushed conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Weasley one evening at the end of which they decided to buy a new clock. Mrs. Weasley unwrapped it and looked down at it with a smile but there was sadness in her eyes too for Fred was no longer on it. The Weasley family clock which had previously had 9 hands looked no different at first glance. The destinations, the pattern, the colour, it was all the same. The hands were silver with the name of the family member engraved in gold but instead of there being 8 hands Harry noticed that there were in fact 10. One hand pointed at work which was Mr. Weasley's and the other 9 hands all pointed at 'home'.

"Mrs. Weasley." Said Harry in a slightly small voice, "You put Hermione and me on the clock." He said, still in that small, quiet, stunned voice.

Mrs. Weasley looked over at him, smiling genuinely now and nodding, "Yes dear, you and Hermione are part of the family after all." She said, and in a rush of gratitude that he didn't quite understand Harry hugged Mrs. Weasley who hugged him back and cried, yet again.

Feeling a little embarrassed after the exchange Harry sunk a little lower in his seat and only noticed then the letters on the table, a large pile most of which were addressed to him.

"Fanmail, fanmail, fanmail." Harry muttered as he looked through it all, George grinned and grabbed a letter, following his lead Charlie and Bill did the same and began to read out extracts of his fanmail.

"Dear Mr. Potter. You are truly an extraordinary young man, having considered your amazing feat in the war we would like to offer you a place on the wizengamot."

"Wow Harry! You have to say yes, no one this young has ever been on the wizengamot!"

Harry rolled his eyes, and threw a few more of the fanmail letters into the fire.

"Listen to this one Harry." Said Bill, catching Harry's attention, "Dear Mr. Potter, I have been told from one of my many sources that you would consider the position of an Auror at the ministry. Due to your extraordinary circumstances we are willing to offer you a place on this years training course without asking for the necessary grades. In your case the practical experience is more than enough."

"I'll say!" Percy echoed, "You defeated Voldemort and escaped him on countless occasions, you should be careful before you take the job though Harry, the ministry are very good at corrupting people." The advice was good and Harry had been thinking the same thing when he heard Bill read out the letter.

"Hey, these look like Hogwarts letters!" Harry said, finding four letters at the bottom of the pile addressed to he, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. He threw the letters to the others and opened his.

"Mine is standard, the books I'll need for my 7th year, I need to send a copy of the subjects I want to take to see if I can take up another N.E.W.T or if I want to drop one." Ginny told them after a quick skim read of her letter, "Why do you three have letters?"

To answer Ginny's question Hermione read her letter out loud,

_"Dear Miss. Granger,_

_In light of recent events we would like to give any of last years 7th years a chance to come back to school in September to re-sit their final year and achieve the qualifications deserved._

_These students who choose to return will be known as '8th year' students. Due to lack of space in the house common rooms (as each house has only two dormitories, one male, and one female, for every year group) a common room for returning students will be set up in the Eastern tower. This common room will be shared amongst the year group, all 4 houses will coincide, peacefully._

_This school year will run as any other with the exception of certain classes that may have to be shared with the current 7th year students._

_As stated above this year is not compulsory but for those students who wish to work within the ministry, with medicine or go on to teach after Hogwarts, it is highly recommended that you return to school for your final year._

_I would appreciate it greatly if you would respond to this letter within a week, including the classes you wish to take if your answer is yes.  
><em>

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall,_

_Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."_

There was a stunned silence for a good 5 minutes until eventually Ron broke it, "Blimey, do we want to go back?" He asked.

Immediately Hermione answered, "Yes!" As if any other answer couldn't possibly be good enough for her.

Ron resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he looked to Harry for his answer, Harry shrugged, "I dunno." He said thoughtfully.

"Its not like you need the grades though, is it?" Ron asked Harry, not bitterly, just matter of factly, "The ministry has offered you tons of apprenticeships, so has St. Mungo's. You could do whatever you want, couldn't you?"

Harry shrugged again, "I suppose but I quite fancy teaching Defence so maybe I should go back and get a N.E.W.T in it, besides it might be a laugh to go back for another year." He added, thinking of all the time he could spend with Ginny if he went back for another year.

Ron nodded in agreement with his best friend, "Yeah, true. I guess I'll need to go back too, I was thinking of becoming an Auror after school."

They both seemed to simultaneously agree that going back to school was the best option but Hermione who had decided the moment she had read the letter had already written her reply and sent the letter away with pigwidgeon.

Ron and Harry chuckled under their breath at this, it was so Hermione. Turning back to the table she said, "Well I don't want a particularly difficult year so I dropped a couple of subjects but going back is definitely the best idea, I'd thought about going into the ministry, something to do with helping house elves maybe, or magical law enforcement, oh I don't know yet."

Harry and Ron were still chuckling under their breath as they wrote their replies too.

Harry scrawled down on the back of the parchment, "Yes Professor I'd like to return as I'm interesting in teaching. I would like to continue taking Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Charms, Herbology and Transfiguration."

"Hey Ron, do you reckon we should take up Divination again? Just for a laugh." Harry asked, it had been fun taking the mick out of Trelawney and making up predictions about death. Ron had agreed and he and Harry had both asked to take up Divination then sent their own letters away with Hedwig feeling a sense of satisfaction, going back to Hogwarts for Harry felt like going home and he found that once more he couldn't wait for the 1st of September to roll around.

**TBC.**


	2. Making Amends

_The 8th Year_

_Chapter 2 - Making Amends_

_**A/N - This chapter is set at the burrow and the next one is on the train to Hogwarts. I think the trio and Ginny need to sort some things out before they go back to school which is the reason for this chapter.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing!**_

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><p>It was early when Harry got up, dressed and snuck down the stairs of the burrow. He hadn't wanted to wake Ron but he had needed to get up, he couldn't just lie in bed awake with too many things in his head.<p>

Considering the fact it was only 5am in the morning and the sky was orange and pink but still slightly dark Harry didn't think he'd meet anyone on his venture but he was very wrong about that.

Harry walked into the kitchen and stopped in his tracks when he saw that Ginny was already there. She was sitting with her back to him at the table holding something in her hands as her body shook with silent sobs. Unsure what to do Harry silently crossed the room and tapped her on the shoulder. Shocked Ginny dropped the photo in her hands onto the table as she turned to see Harry.

Mustering a smile Harry pulled Ginny up and enveloped her in a hug. In that moment she let herself cry and let it all out, everything she'd been bottling up. Harry didn't need to look at the photo to know who was in it, he knew this was about Fred; he had always been Ginny's favourite.

They stood there for a long time, how long exactly Harry wasn't sure but when Ginny pulled away and wiped her eyes on a handkerchief the sky was now a deep pink. Harry gave her a moment to compose herself as he conjured a piece of paper and a quill and left a note to Mrs. Weasley. Harry then silently took Ginny's hand and led her out of the house and the garden.

They walked in silence through the hills until Harry found an old beaten woodland path. The sky had lightened now and the harsh morning sun was shining through the gaps in the trees on either side of the lane they walked on. They passed farms and Ginny was content to look at the animals, Harry's hand in hers some small comfort. Harry would stop and exchange pleasantries with the farmers as they walked on for what felt like a very long time.

The path got wider as they walked further and the trees got thinner until they were eventually walking along a country lane in the middle of two large fields, one full of cows and the other full of horses. Ginny smiled slightly as Harry led them up to the top of a large white cliff that looked onto the ocean. It wasn't until they reached the top and sat down with their legs hanging over the edge that they eventually spoke.

"Thank you." Ginny said in a quiet, soft voice.

Harry's hand was still in hers as he gave her a small smile, "It's a muggle way to travel but it really cleared my head in those long hours at Privet Drive." He told her.

Ginny nodded, "It works." She said and they were silent some more as they watched the waves make their way towards the shore and lap and crash against the cliff walls. It was very relaxing and soothing.

"He's gone Ginny." Harry said and Ginny was surprised to her an edge in his voice that she didn't understand. Ginny turned her head away from the waves to look at him and Harry had a haunted look in his eyes as he spoke again, "Voldemort is gone and I can finally live a normal life." He looked away, shaking his head, "It just feels so hard to be normal now, after…" He trailed off and a small squeeze of the hand from Ginny told him that she understood.

"I'm sure together we can manage." Ginny said after a moment's consideration. Harry immediately turned back to look at her, she was smiling but Harry was still very unsure of himself, "Ginny…I don't blame you if you want nothing more to do with me…the way I left you and-"

Ginny shook her head, raising a hand to silence him she said, her voice now a little less gentle, "You left me because you wanted to protect me. I know how hard it must have been for you Harry, not knowing how I was. I know you wanted to be with me but couldn't be."

Harry was silent for a while, now very aware of her hand in his, of her soft skin and her watchful gaze. He was surprised by how well she knew him if he was honest but it really shouldn't have come as a surprise to him, Ginny had been able to read him like this for a while.

"Thank you." Harry said simply, echoing her earlier words and hoping it would be enough.

Ginny smiled and moved closer to him; dropping his hand she moved into his embrace and rested her head against his chest. Harry breathed a sigh of contentment, "So, Ginny Weasley, will you be my girlfriend, again?" He asked causing Ginny to chuckle against his chest.

"Of course Harry." Ginny said with no edge in her voice and Harry grinned, for the first time since the final battle he let himself feel truly happy.

Here with Ginny on a cliff somewhere a good few miles away from the burrow was his new beginning.

"So, where do you want to go today?" Harry asked as he stood up, taking Ginny's hand and holding on tightly.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked as they stood in the sun on the cliff top.

"I mean I'll take you wherever you want to go today." Harry said simply and Ginny grinned, "So you passed your apparation test then?"

Harry shrugged, "Well I've been apparating all year so yeah, it wasn't too hard." He told her and she laughed a genuine laugh for the first time in a long time.

"Well I think we should go to Diagon Alley." Ginny said, "But we should probably go back to the burrow first and ask Ron and Hermione to come too."

"Whatever you wish my Lady." Harry said as he dramatically held his arm out for her. Smiling Ginny took it and they spun into darkness emerging a moment later at the gate to the burrow. Ginny made a face, "I think I prefer floo." She said and Harry laughed, "You get used to it." He told her.

As the two of them walked up the garden path hand in hand they could see and hear movement in the kitchen and the smell of Mrs. Weasley's wonderful cooking wafted out of the slightly open door into the warm sunlit back garden.

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><p>When Ron woke up he knew it was early, too early, because it wasn't light yet but at the same time he sensed that something was wrong because he cracked open an eye and saw that Harry wasn't in his bed. Frowning Ron got up and began to walk down to the kitchen. He was stopped however after he'd climbed down two floors by a door opening.<p>

"Ron." Yawned a sleepy Hermione, "Come in."

Ron didn't need to be told twice and suddenly aware of the fact he was only wearing pyjama bottoms he followed Hermione into the room she shared with Ginny, only Ginny wasn't there.

"Harry's vanished." Ron told Hermione as she climbed back into her bed.

Hermione nodded, patting the spot next to her, "I know, I noticed Ginny was gone so I investigated, they've gone out for a walk."

"A walk?" Ron asked as he sat down next to Hermione in her bed and let her adjust the covers so they covered them both. With a wave of her wand Hermione handed Ron a cup of tea and he took it gratefully, "It's a bit early for that isn't it?"

Hermione smiled, "Oh Ron, don't you get it? They're obviously working everything out."

Ron seemed to realise with a jolt what she meant, Ginny and Harry were getting back together, "Oh, well that's good then, isn't it?"

Hermione's smile got brighter as she nodded, sipping her tea, "It's better than good, they'll both be happy again."

There was silence for 5 or so minutes as they drank their tea, both of them lost in their own thoughts.

"Um, Hermione." Ron began awkwardly, looking at the girl who only smiled as encouragement, "We never really talked about all that happened on the horcrux hunt, or you know, the, um, kiss."

Hermione smiled at Ron's awkwardness and put her empty teacup down on the bedside table. Ron had just done the same. Hermione turned back to Ron, "Your right, we haven't had that talk yet. Do you want to have it now?"

"Now?" Squeaked Ron who was painfully aware of the fact that he was very close to Hermione in her bed and he was only half dressed. Hermione's natural beauty seemed so much more obvious to him now and he willed himself not to look at her bed messed hair and resisted the urge to run his hands through it as he kissed her.

"Now." Hermione confirmed but it wasn't in her usual demanding tone, it was in a soft tone. It told Ron she wanted to have this conversation now but that if he didn't she wouldn't push.

"Well." Ron began, feeling the colour rising in his cheeks, "Obviously you know that I care for you. I have done for a long time."

Hermione positively beamed at this, "I feel the same Ron."

They looked at each other for a moment, examining each other almost. Ron was still a pale pink colour and Hermione too looked a little flustered.

It happened in a flash, neither of them knew who had acted first but Hermione's lips were on Ron's and his were on hers in a passionate yet meaningful kiss. It seemed that this was the easiest way to convey how they both felt.

When Hermione drew back from the kiss she gave Ron a sheepish smile and slid further down in her bed so that she was lying down. Ron joined her and took her hand. For a long while they just lay in silence.

"When did you…you know, realise?" Ron asked Hermione out of the blue.

Hermione didn't have to grope in her head for the answer, she recalled the point vividly, "I had inclinations for a while but I didn't really know until I saw you kiss Lavender."

Guilt flitted across Ron's eyes but Hermione shook her head as if to tell him to stop thinking like that.

"What about you?" Hermione asked Ron who, like her, knew the answer straight away. He seemed flustered but didn't look away from Hermione, "Well I sort of knew ever since the Yule Ball but I guess the moment I really understood what I felt for you was when I first saw you after the battle in 6th year and I realised you could have died."

Again they were both quiet but not uncomfortably so; it was a good sort of silence, the contemplative sort.

"Are you telling me you love me Ron Weasley?" Hermione asked with a soft smile.

Ron opened and closed his mouth several times before returning her smile and nodding, "Yeah, I am."

Hermione, who didn't seem to mind about Ron's half naked state, hugged him tightly, her head resting on his chest, and he was sure he heard her whisper in the quietest voice she could muster, "I love you too."

Ron and Hermione weren't sure how long they lay like that for but they were content as the sky outside got lighter and lighter, the feel of Hermione's warm body on his bare skin and the scent of her made his feelings for her intensify and it was just a perfect moment.

After a while the silent house became noisier as people moved up and down the stairs and pots clattered in the kitchen and doors opened and closed all over the house.

"We should probably get up." Hermione said with a yawn as Ron's stomach rumbled.

"Hm, we probably should." Ron said, but he made no movement toward getting up, and neither did Hermione, they both looked each other and laughed.

Then, the bedroom door swung open and Ron and Hermione's laughter died in their throats. They became very aware that to Mrs. Weasley who could only see Ron's bare chest and Hermione hugging him tightly with the covers pulled up over both of them as they lay in her bed; this looked like something other than it was.

"Oh!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, her eyes widening, "Oh I'm so sorry!" Very flustered she shut the door and hurried down the stairs loudly. Hermione turned her wide eyes on Ron and saw he was trying not to laugh. In that moment something snapped inside her and she burst out laughing, Ron joined in and they both felt happier than they had in weeks.

10 minutes later Ron and Hermione did eventually get up and dressed before walking into the kitchen together hand in hand. It was full by this time and breakfast was in full swing. Mrs. Weasley blushed when they walked in and Charlie winked at his little brother. Bill grinned at them as they sat down, "I heard you too were caught in bed together." He said in amusement.

"Bill!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed with a glare at her eldest son.

"No, it wasn't like that." Hermione said and was greeted with several disbelieving looks, "Honestly!" She exclaimed, "We were just talking."

"I believe you Dear." Mrs. Weasley said looking relieved that nothing more had happened.

"We don't." Bill, Charlie and George said in unison. Hermione glared at them and Ron just turned very red and dove into his plate of sausages and bacon.

"Where's Harry and Ginny?" Bill asked as he glanced around the table and noticed they weren't there.

Mrs. Weasley glanced at the new clock on the wall. The hands of herself, Bill, Charlie, George, Ron and Hermione pointed at 'Home'. Mr. Weasley's hand pointed at 'Work' and Harry and Ginny's hands pointed at 'Travelling.'

"They went out for a walk." Mrs. Weasley replied and Charlie raised his eyebrows at Bill, "A walk? Yeah right."

George chuckled as the clock ticked and Harry and Ginny's hands spun around to home. There was a pop outside the house and a few seconds later Harry and Ginny walked into the kitchen holding hands. Ron and Hermione shared a quick smile.

"Morning Mum." Ginny said with a yawn as she sat down next to Hermione.

"Morning Mrs. Weasley." Harry said as he sat down next to his girlfriend.

"Did you enjoy your walk?" Mrs. Weasley asked them. George winked at them and Charlie and Bill gave them suggestive looks. Ginny rolled her eyes and replied, "Yeah, Harry's muggles were right about something, walking clears your head."

"Well that's good." She said as she put a plate down in front of them both and they thanked her and tucked into breakfast.

"Harry and I are going to Diagon Alley today to get our school stuff." Ginny said when she'd finished her first few mouthfuls, "Do you guys want to come?" She asked Ron and Hermione.

The two of them nodded and Ginny smiled at Harry. They were getting their school supplies; soon he would be back in the castle, back in his true home, back where he belonged.

_**TBC.**_


	3. Aboard the Hogwarts Express

_The 8th Year_

_Chapter 3 - Aboard the Hogwarts Express_

_**A/N - READ BELOW IF YOU WANT TO SEE HOW CLOSE TO THE BOOKS I'M MAKING THE FIC =) **_

_**I've been doing my research and I'm going to try and make this as authentic as possible. **_

_**Hedwig doesn't die in my story because I love her and I just don't want to have to get a new owl for Harry. However everyone else who died is dead BUT for those who read "Into the Past" and love Severus as much as I do he will appear in painting form and via a book, I will give no more away! **_

_**Also the couples are going to be as close to the mark as I can get them. There are exceptions of course and one of them is that in this story Draco isn't going to be with Astoria because she's only a 5**__**th**__** year in my fic. I have no idea whether that age difference is right. _**All other couples are going to be true to JKR's world with the exception of ones shes never specified (for an example, Dean & Parvati)**_ **_

_**I know JKR said there would be a new Headteacher because Minerva was getting on a bit but I'd like to think she'd be Headteacher for at least 10 years. **_

_**A character I'm writing into this story is Mafalda Weasley who is a Slytherin Weasley cousin, she didn't make it into the books but JK talks about her on her website. She is going to be Astoria's best friend. **_

_**JKR also said that Draco and Harry would probably never become true friends but I'm ignoring that because I'd like to think that if they tried and if Draco got over his pride they could. **_

_**JK said Harry and Dudley would be on a 'Christmas card' correspondence so I'm going to incorporate that as well as many other post-HP things she has said in interviews so to those who spot things she's said will happen rather than things I've made up I applaud you!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing!**_

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><p>"But Mum it's not fair! Why couldn't I apparate like Harry, Hermione and Ron?"<p>

Harry smiled and turned his head at the familiar voice, the station was loud but he heard Ginny above all the noise. He felt very nostalgic as she reminded him of how desperately she'd wanted to go to Hogwarts when they first met.

Mrs. Weasley was rolling her eyes, "Because you haven't passed your test yet." She said impatiently as she walked alongside her daughter.

"So? Harry could have taken me by side-along!" Ginny exclaimed and Mrs. Weasley shook her head, "You'll be able to apparate soon enough Ginny." She said as Ginny grumbled and hugged her Mother before dragging her trunk onto the train.

Harry looked around for Ron and Hermione and realised they must still be on the train putting their luggage away, Harry walked over to Mrs. Weasley and hugged her, "Thanks so much for this summer Mrs. Weasley." He said quietly, "I know it's been hard and I appreciate that you let me stay with you."

Mrs. Weasley gave him a watery smile, "Oh you know you're family Harry, there's no need to thank me." Harry smiled and released the woman he thought of as a Mother, "See you at Christmas." She said with a wide smile as Harry climbed onto the train moments before it left. From the window of the compartment he, Ginny, Ron and Hermione were sharing they all waved and shouted their goodbyes to Mrs. Weasley until the train rounded a corner and the station vanished from sight.

"Feels weird, doesn't it?" Ron asked after a moment of silence, "Going back."

Hermione nodded, "Yeah, it does." She agreed and Harry agreed too with a silent nod and an air of thoughtfulness.

Hermione took out a book and shut off the rest of them. Ginny leant against Harry's shoulder and played with her pygmy puff Arnold and Ron and Harry got out Ron's set of wizard chess and played a few games. Around half an hour after they had set out Luna and Neville had joined them, Luna was reading "The Quibbler" and Neville struck up a conversation with Ginny about the Holyhead Harpies latest game. The journey was passing pleasantly and normally until an interruption came in the form of a knock on their compartment door.

Hermione looked up from her book with a frown at the interruption, "Come in." She called albeit a little warily. The door to the compartment slid open and everyone was surprised to see Draco Malfoy standing there. They hadn't expected him to return, and what on Earth was he doing at their compartment?

"Not got your cronies with you?" Ron asked a little maliciously as he saw Draco was alone and looking extremely awkward.

Something flashed in the blondes eyes at Ron's words, "Crabbe was one of my best friends and he's dead." He said, and there was real pain in his words, "Goyle was arrested."

Ron looked a little gob smacked and couldn't seem to find words. They were all silent for a moment until Draco spoke again, "Could I talk to you Potter? In private." He added with a harsh look at Ron.

Harry nodded and stood up, "Take over for me Nev." He said referring to his chess game with Ron. Harry left the compartment with Draco and slid the door shut behind them; he leant against the wall of the empty corridor and looked at Draco pointedly.

"You saved my life." Draco said simply.

"Twice!" Came a call from the compartment and Harry recognised Ron's voice instantly. Harry shook his head in amusement, "Muffliato." He murmured and pointed his wand at the compartment door.

"Yeah, we did save you twice. We were invisible the second time." Harry said casually to Draco who frowned and then realised what Harry meant, "You punched me!"

"No." Harry said truthfully, "That was Ron."

Draco nodded and seemed to struggle to find the words he wanted to say, "Well obviously you realised I'm not a death eater, or even a dark wizard." He said and Harry nodded, "You're just a high school bully."

A dark looked flashed across his face and in a softer tone than Harry had ever heard him speak with Draco said, "Not anymore. I wanted to thank you Potter, for saving my life." He said.

"Well you're welcome." Harry said and he wondered if there was more to it than that.

Draco had turned to walk away but then stopped and turned to face Harry again, "And given the fact we'll be sharing a common room this year, I think we should call a ceasefire."

Harry shook his head causing Draco to frown, "No. I think a truce is a better idea."

Draco smiled and it was the first time Harry had seen a genuine smile on his face. The Gryffindor held out his hand for Draco to shake it and he did. They shared a slightly awkward glance as their hands dropped. What did you say to someone who you'd hated for years and just made a truce with?

"Well, I need to get back." Harry said and Draco nodded, "Yeah me too." He said, "Well, see you around."

"See you around." Harry echoed as Draco walked away. He opened the door and walked back into the compartment where he found 5 curious sets of eyes on him.

"You cast the Muffliato charm on us!" Ron exclaimed indignantly.

"What did he want Harry?" Hermione asked as she smacked Ron on the arm.

"He thanked me for saving his life and we called a truce." Harry said honestly as he sat back down and took over his chess game again from Neville.

"A truce? What did he want to call a truce for?" Ron asked with a frown.

Before Harry could reply Ginny did it for him, "Well it's obvious he wants to get on with Harry isn't it? You'll be sharing a common room this year too, and maybe even a dorm."

Ron shuddered, "Ugh, I don't want to have to share a dorm with that git."

"Cut him some slack Ron." Ginny said slightly harshly which caused Ron, and Harry, to frown.

"Since when are you and Malfoy best friends?" Ron asked his sister who glared at him in return, "He helped us out a lot last year. He got us out of punishments and snuck us out of the dungeons a few times when the Carrows planned to torture us."

Neville nodded, he too had witnessed this other side of Draco Malfoy, "I don't think he ever wanted to be a part of all that pain and suffering. He just didn't know how to get out of the mess he was in."

Hermione looked slightly sympathetic, "I know he's never exactly been friendly to us Ron but he couldn't kill Dumbledore and he didn't want Crabbe to start that fiendfyre. He lost a lot of friends in the War too."

Ron looked completely confused at the fact that practically everyone was sticking up for Draco Malfoy, "Oh so Crabbe stupidly killed himself and Goyle is rightfully in Azkaban for torturing students." He said, "We all lost a lot more than him."

Speaking up for the first time Luna said, "You didn't lose your girlfriend and your best friends. He almost got sent to Azkaban too." Her voice had the same dreamy tone it always did but there was sadness in it too.

Ron looked even more confused now and Ginny said, "Malfoy and his parents only escaped Azkaban because they were vouched for anonymously."

"And Pansy Parkinson was killed in a duel during the final battle." Neville added.

Harry had been very quiet since he returned to the compartment but spoke up to defend the Slytherin, "Imagine how you'd feel if you lost Hermione and me on the same day mate."

Ron looked around in them all flabbergasted and then finally huffed, "Fine! But this doesn't mean I have to like him."

Hermione gave Ron a small smile before returning to her book and Harry was left to his thoughts for a moment. The others didn't know it but he had been the one who had vouched for the Malfoys. He'd talked to Kinglsey who was now Minister for Magic and the Auror had told him Draco would get 3 years for assisting the death eaters in killing Dumbledore and his parents would get life for their crimes against humanity. Harry knew Ron would react badly if he knew about what he'd done and he figured Hermione would find it noble so he kept it to himself but after his little encounter with Draco he found himself feeling glad he had saved the boy and his family from Azkaban, it seemed his life was hard enough already.

"I wonder if he'll still be an arrogant little git." Ron said, breaking the silence.

"I doubt it." Ginny said, "His family name isn't something to be proud of anymore, its something to be ashamed of."

Hermione nodded, looking up from her book again, "The wizarding world will view him extremely badly, he's got the same status as blood traitors do now, and he can't be arrogant about that."

"I wonder if that means he'll be a nicer person." Neville thought outloud, Harry nodded, "I think he will be. I called him a school bully and he said not anymore."

"He's grown up." Hermione said simply and Luna ever the wise one said, without looking up from her magazine, "Children of War grow into adults before their time."

There was a shocked silence at the truth of her words. At the age of 17 Harry, Ron and Hermione had gone on a quest many adults had failed at. At 17 years old Harry had killed the most dangerous wizard of all time. At 16 years old Draco Malfoy had been ordered to kill his Headteacher and told that if he didn't he and his family would be killed. At 11 years old Ginny had been possessed by Voldemort. All of them had grown up too fast.

After the interruption the journey passed normally and slowly as it always did. Harry expected it was the excitement at going back to Hogwarts, going _home_. The lunch trolley came and everyone ate and laughed together. Outside the sky darkened and when the train's lights clicked on Hermione said they had probably better get their robes on.

30 minutes later the train pulled into Hogsmeade station and eagerly the group of friends got off and made their way towards the thestral pulled carriages with their pets. Ginny had Arnold on her shoulder. Hedwig, Pigwidgeon and Crookshanks were all in their cages. When they'd been off on their quest Hermione had given Crookshanks to Ginny to look after but she'd been glad to get her cat back, she had missed him.

As they walked towards the carriages Harry caught Draco's eye, he nodded and the Slytherin nodded back. He was walking with five other Slytherin students that were returning for an 8th year. Harry recognised the tall scrawny brown-haired boy as Theodore Nott. There was another boy he knew straight away, Blaise Zabini was tall, dark-skinned and handsome. With the three boys were three girls but none of them were Pansy Parkinson, it seemed the others had been right about her perishing in the battle.

One of the girls had been in Harry's 6th year Potions class, she was extremely pretty with long blonde hair and blue eyes, she'd always been a quiet Slytherin and had never said a nasty word to him or the others, Harry was sure her name was Daphne. Walking next to Daphne and arm in arm with her was a girl Harry recognised, he wasn't sure what her name was but she and Daphne looked very alike as she too had long blonde hair and blue eyes. The third girl was called Tracey Davis who had been another of the quiet members of Pansy Parkinsons Slytherin gang. Tracey had dark hair and like the others she was very pretty.

Harry climbed into the carriage with Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny and Luna and the moment the door had slid shut they began to move.

"I can see them now." Hermione said in a soft voice, all eyes turned to her and they saw a few tears slide down her cheek as she stared at the thestrals pulling the carriage toward the school gates.

"Who…" Neville began to say before drifting off at Harry's warning look.

Hermione shook her head as if to say it was okay to ask, "Professor Snape." She said, out of respect for the dead she'd kept his title.

"Oh." Neville said simply, he looked towards the thestrals; he had been able to see them for years after witnessing his Grandfathers death. Luna too didn't even bother to lift her head from "The Quibbler" which she was once again engrossed in, she had been able to see them since she arrived at Hogwarts.

Ron however had turned very pale, and Ginny's hand had loosened slightly in Harry's as they stared at the thestrals. It hadn't occurred to Harry that they could see the animals too now. Ron had witnessed Peter Pettigrew be killed by his own hand and even worse than that he'd seen Fred die. Harry frowned to himself as he tried to comprehend who Ginny had seen die and remembered that she'd watched the duel between her Mother and Bellatrix Lestrange.

Harry glanced forward at the carriage in front of theirs and noticed a significantly paler Draco Malfoy watching the thestrals; he of course had witnessed Dumbledores death. Everyone else in the Slytherin carriage seemed to be able to see them too.

"It's proof of how much people the War hit." Harry said in a gentle, broken voice, all eyes turned to him and he jerked his head in the direction of the Slytherin carriage, "I wonder how many others can see them now."

"Everyone who watched you kill Voldemort I expect." Hermione said, she seemed to be thinking this over, "I know he was a monster but I suppose it still counts."

Harry nodded and was thankful that the carriage had stopped effectively ending their conversation. The carriage was within a few feet of the castle doors. Along with the others he jumped out and looked up at the school with a smile, he was so very happy to be back but looking at it made him think of all that had happened here. This was where Remus, Tonks and Fred had died.

Harry felt a hand in his and jumped slightly, he looked to his left and saw Ginny standing there. She gave him a smile and started to walk up the steps, Harry followed, "Thanks." He muttered when they walked into the brightly lit entrance hall, they didn't drop hands.

"I could see you needed it." Ginny said as they walked slowly behind the crowd moving towards the great hall, she added, "Don't think of all the terrible things that happened here." She added, "Think about all the great things. This is where Voldemort was defeated for good."

Harry smiled happily at the thought, "Yeah, you're right." He said, feeling much lighter as they made their way into the hall with Ron and Hermione on their heels. Luna skipped over to the Ravenclaw table and the others all sat down at the Gryffindor table. Harry couldn't resist looking around the hall, it looked exactly as it always had with one small difference. At the very front of the hall, behind the head table there was a large window and above it there was now a large golden plaque that read, "This is the location where Lord Voldemort met his end by the wand of Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived. Thank you, Harry."

The message tugged on Harry's heartstrings when he read it and he was aware of Ginny putting a little pressure on his hand as if to say, 'hey, it's okay'. Somehow the way it was worded told Harry that McGonagall had been the one to produce the plaque and when he met her eyes and she gave him a small smile and a nod his suspicions were confirmed.

As Harry couldn't find his voice and she wouldn't hear him anyway seeing as she was so far away he merely nodded back and tried his best to return her smile. He was moved very much by that plaque and he doubted he could ever put into words just how much so.

_**TBC.**_

_**The next chapter is the sorting and stuff xD It would have been too long if I had put it into this chapter as well.**_


	4. House Unity

_The 8th Year_

_Chapter 4 - House Unity_

_**A/N - This starts from the exact point the last chapter ended practically. I hope you enjoy it!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing!**_

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><p>Once every student had entered the hall McGonagall stood up and silence fell immediately. It was her first year as Headmistress and Harry wondered if she felt nervous as she stood there for the first time. However she looked perfectly at ease.<p>

"Students of Hogwarts, welcome back." She said with an easy smile, "The first years I am informed are stuck on the lake with Professor Hagrid so there will be a slight delay in the sorting." There was a good amount of grumbling throughout the hall at this news.

"However." McGonagall said, raising her voice slightly so that silence fell once more, "This gives me a perfect opportunity to address our 8th years."

Harry frowned and listened more intently than before as she carried on, "As you already know you will be sharing a common room in the Eastern tower of the school. I understand that it may be difficult for certain pupils to overcome house barriers-" Her eyes flitted from Draco to Harry who both noticed and couldn't resist a small smile at the irony of it all, "-Nevertheless I will not tolerate anything less than complete house unity in this common room."

Harry glanced around for any familiar faces as he wondered who else had returned, he hadn't imagined a lot of people had, anyone who had been at school last year had probably done their N.E.W.T's at the Ministry so hadn't needed to return.

Her speech was over and Hagrid's timing was perfect as the oak doors opened and the terrified but dry (for once) children walked in slowly behind him. Several of them were glancing around the hall in fear and others in excitement. Harry smiled as he remembered that feeling, how he'd felt walking into this hall. Something squirmed in his stomach as he remembered the first time he saw Severus Snape. Harry understood now why he'd stared, he'd seen Lily Evans eyes and he'd become immersed in memories.

Harry watched as the group of about 30 students walked to the front of the great hall and again found himself thinking too much. When Harry had been sorted there had been 10 Gryffindors, 11 Slytherins, 7 Ravenclaws and 8 Hufflepuffs, if he remembered correctly, that had made his year group consist of 36 students. He found himself wandering how many of these 36 would return to school. He knew for a fact Pansy and Crabbe were dead which put the number down to 34 but that still meant that a possible 9 Slytherins could return yet he'd only seen 6 come off the train…

"Harry!" Hermione's voice brought Harry back to the present, "Huh?" He asked aware he probably looked a little dazed as he looked at Hermione who seemed to be torn between scolding him and laughing, "You're missing the sorting." She said in amusement.

"Oh, right." Harry said as he watched a small redheaded child join the Gryffindor table, "Anyone we know?" He asked.

Hermione shook her head, "Not really. Tessie's little sister Tanya was sorted into Gryffindor."

"Tessie?" Harry asked and Hermione rolled her eyes, "Tessie Pritchard, Harry she's in our year, and our house."

"Really?" Harry asked, how could he not have known that? It showed how little attention he had paid to girls in his early school days and then he'd met Ginny so no one else had really seemed to matter.

"Yes!" Hermione hissed in disbelief, "Harry I share a dorm with her!"

Harry was pretty certain that Hermione had never mentioned a Tessie Pritchard to him in the many years he'd known her so they clearly weren't the best of friends. Again he hadn't been paying attention and was getting glared at from Hermione so he turned to the sorting to see, with surprise, that the last person was sitting on the three legged stool.

Natasha Wilson became a Ravenclaw and once again McGonagall stood up to speak, "I have a few important notices I'd like to inform you all of before you become too full to take any of it in."

Ron groaned, "I'd take it in better when I'm full than when I'm starving."

"Ronald, shh!" Hermione hissed as she whacked him in the arm, he glared at her and Harry shook his head in amusement as he turned back to their new Headmistress.

"This year we have imposed some new school rules. Bullying or teasing anyone because of their house is now against the rules and you will receive detention and lose house points if you are caught doing so." McGonagall said as Hermione nodded, Harry agreed with her, they should have made that into a punishable offence a long time ago.

"Anyone of the belief that Slytherin house is full of dark Wizards needs to drop this silly belief right away, it is not true nor is it fair." The Slytherins looked smug for a moment until McGonagall finished her sentence, "But the Slytherins need to learn to stop believing themselves better than the other houses because this is also not fair or true."

Harry chuckled under his breath at the look on some of the Slytherins faces at being told they weren't better than anyone else, Draco didn't seem annoyed, in fact he was smiling as if he found this idea vaguely amusing.

"I have been told to inform you that products from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes are banned and that the forbidden forest is forbidden to all students under any and all circumstances." At this McGonagall looked at the trio and Harry merely grinned, he was sure he had been in that forest more than any of his other classmates.

"That is all. Now I'm sure you are all famished, enjoy the feast!" McGonagall said, with a smile she raised both her arms and the plates were suddenly piled high with food. Harry and Ron dove into the food like starved boys who hadn't been fed for months and as Hermione and Ginny caught each others eye they smiled fondly at their two boys.

"I orgot ow uch I loved ogwarts ood!" Ron said through a large mouthful of food. Hermione looked at him distastefully, "What?"

Harry swallowed a bite of lamb and translated, "He said he forgot how much he loved Hogwarts food."

"That's disgusting Ron." Hermione said, then turned on Harry, "How can you understand him?"

Harry merely shrugged, "I'm used to it." Hermione glared at Ron but with no real meaning in it, truthfully she had missed Hogwarts food too, she loved Mrs. Weasley's cooking but nothing could compare to Hogwarts food.

"At least you have more manners than Ron." Ginny said to Harry who smiled, but this prompted Ron to swallow his large mouthful and exclaim, "Hey!"

Ginny merely smiled and shook her head, they all ate quietly for a while, "It will be odd, won't it?" Ginny asked out of the blue when the food eventually vanished and was replaced by the many mouth-watering desserts.

"What will be?" Harry asked as he scooped some treacle tart into a bowl.

"Not sharing a common room with you." Ginny said casually but Harry heard the note of sadness in her voice, "Don't worry, you can hang out in our common room." He said with a smile that made Ginny feel much better, "Not all the time mind you, I think we'd make Ron sick if we spent all our time snogging in the common room."

Ron made a face at this, "Don't talk about snogging my sister in front of me Harry." He said and as he turned away Ginny and Harry exchanged an amused grin.

The hall was very loud as everyone ate and laughed and talked so Harry barely heard the loud crack over the noise, but he did notice Kreacher appear next to him at the table. The elf looked as well groomed as he had when they'd left Grimmauld place with Regulas' locket on his chest, "Can I get you any extra helpings Master Harry?" Kreacher asked and Harry smiled fondly at the elf.

"I'm good thanks Kreacher but I'll tell you what you can do for me when you've got the time." Harry said, glancing at Ginny with a smirk, "Can you find out if there's any way I can hoodwink the new 8th year common room to let a 7th year in?"

Kreacher nodded eagerly, "Of course Master Harry!" He squeaked and with another crack he vanished.

"Aw, I love that elf." Harry said honestly as he turned back to his food in a better mood now than he had been in a long time, "He's really turned around lately."

Ginny shook her head in amusement and exasperation, "I don't know whether to be flattered or disturbed by the fact that you love me enough to send your house elf on a quest to hoodwink your common room so I can get in."

Hermione glared at Harry, "You should be disturbed Gin." She assured the younger girl.

Ron shook his head at Hermione, "Be flattered, Kreacher loves serving Harry, it makes him happy and you should hear him brag to the other elves about how his Master is Harry Potter. Its not like Harry's making him slam his hands in oven doors Mione."

"It's still not right Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, "He's essentially a slave against his will!"

"But it's not against his will is it? He likes it!"

Harry rolled his eyes and muttered to Ginny as Ron and Hermione's bickering got louder, "Some things never change."

"Clearly." Ginny said with a fond look at her brother and his girlfriend.

Before they knew it the feast was over and they were all leaving the hall en-route for their common rooms. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville walked with Ginny and Luna out of the hall and through the entrance hall. They had a rough idea of where the Eastern tower was so they all walked up the marble staircase together into the grand staircase, Luna then made her way to the right to Ravenclaw tower and Ginny continued to climb up to Gryffindor tower. Hermione followed Draco Malfoy and the group of Slytherins in the opposite direction than Luna had gone. They walked along a long narrow corridor and started up a long spiral staircase lined with wizard paintings. 5 minutes later panting they reached the top of the staircase and were on a large landing with two doors. According to the signs one was a bathroom and the other was the 8th year common room.

The common room however wasn't accessed by a portrait and a password, instead there was a large wooden door with a brass knocker with the Hogwarts crest on it. It reminded Harry very much of the door to the Ravenclaw common room.

The group of 6 Slytherins were looking at the door in confusion when the trio and Neville reached the top of the stairs.

"How do we get in?" Ron asked rather stupidly and one of the girls, the one whose name Harry didn't know said, "We don't know. The door told us a riddle."

"Oh." Said Harry and felt awkward when all eyes turned to him, "It will be like the Ravenclaw common room then, wont it? You have to answer the riddle right to get in, its to make you learn."

The dark haired girl, Tracey, raised an eyebrow at him, "Why have you been in the Ravenclaw common room Potter?" She asked suggestively and Harry blushed a deep red at the question.

"Well, what is the riddle?" Hermione asked a little impatiently.

A familiar voice filled the large landing at her question.

"A beggars brother died, but the man who died had no brother. How could that be?"

"Is that Dumbledores voice?" Harry asked in astonishment. For a second he and Draco looked each other in the eye but no one noticed the moment.

"Yeah, that's what we thought." The 3rd Slytherin girl, Daphne, said.

"But we've tried everything we can think of." Blaise said, "We thought it was because he was adopted…"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Well its obvious isn't it?"

"For all of us who aren't teenage geniuses, no." Theodore Nott said, but not unkindly, he said it in a teasing tone of voice.

Hermione heard more voices on the stairs behind them and knew it would be a tight squeeze on this landing if they didn't get the door open soon so she said, "The beggar was his sister."

"Correct!" Albus Dumbledores voice said and the door swung open. Curiously the trio followed the Slytherins into the room. In shape and size it was exactly the same as Gryffindor common room. In décor however it was not. It was very homey with a large fire and lots of tables for studying, there were armchairs of all house colours and trappings on the walls of all the house crests as well as the Hogwarts crest. The room looked like a nice sort of place to sit and relax and do homework. The view out of the window was of the forbidden forest and the mountains beyond it, it was very picturesque. Harry looked around the common room that was now full of students in robes bearing 4 different crests. A sign on the notice board said that in total there were 27 students in this common room.

Harry knew 6 of these were the Slytherins and 4 of them were he, Hermione, Ron and Neville but that left 17 people to identify. A quick glance around ensured Harry that the majority of returning students were Gryffindors. Harry saw Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. In addition to Parvati her Ravenclaw twin Padma had returned as had old DA members Michael Corner and Terry Boot. Amongst the Hufflepuffs Harry recognised other ex DA members Hannah Abbott, Ernie MacMillan, Justin Finch-Fletchely, Susan Bones and Zacharias Smith. In fact amongst everyone there were only 5 students he didn't recognise and they were all girls so he asked Hermione.

"Hey Hermione." Harry said in a quiet voice, "Who are those two girls over there?" He asked.

Hermione followed his line of sight to where a blonde girl with heavy eye make up and very bright blue eyes was talking to a girl with brown hair that had a tinge of red to it, they both looked familiar.

"Harry." Said Hermione in exasperation, "That's Tessie Pritchard and Isabelle Chambers." She informed him, "I share a dorm with them, Parvati and Lavender. How can you not have seen them in the Gryffindor common room?"

Harry honestly didn't know the answer to that question, they had probably been in most of his classes too. Instead he asked about the tanned and pretty Ravenclaw girl wearing glasses that he didn't recognise.

"Mandy Brocklehurst. She was in our Transfiguration class, she's really good, she was second best in the class." Hermione replied from where she was now sitting in a scarlet armchair. Harry was perched on the arm of it as he glanced around for the unknown Hufflepuff girl with shoulder length blonde hair who was currently sitting on Zacharias Smiths knee on a yellow puffy beanbag.

"Oh Harry, how can you not know these people? That's Megan Jones, she was in the DA not to mention our Herbology class since 1st year!"

"I don't pay much attention." Harry admitted, then his eyes were drawn to where the Slytherins were standing in a tight knit circle as if they were afraid to try and socialise with any of the other houses. Harry could see why but he felt bad for them all the same.

"What about her? She's called Daphne right?" Harry asked, "She's in our potions class…"

"Yes." Hermione said, surprised he knew that, "How did you remember that one?"

Harry blushed a little, "Don't tell Ginny but I had a bit of a thing for her at the start of 6th year."

"Its understandable." Hermione merely said as she glanced at Daphne's flawless skin, beautiful smile and large blue eyes, not to mention the long blonde locks, "She's gorgeous."

"She is." Harry agreed, "Not a patch on Gin though." He said truthfully, he then added, "And I know the dark haired girl is Tracey Davis but who is the other one?"

Hermione answered immediately, "She's Sadie Cauldwell, her Dad wasn't a death eater but she hung around with Pansy's gang to fit in. I think her Dad actually invented the sneakoscope. He was a Ravenclaw but her Mum was a Slytherin, she used to date Lucius Malfoy before he married Narcissa. Sadie seems nice though, she's very quiet."

"How on Earth do you know all of that Mione?" Harry asked in astonishment.

Hermione seemed flushed at this question, "Oh, well, she got lonely sometimes and she's very intelligent so sometimes we'd talk in the library." Hermione explained, adding the part that she was embarrassed about, "You know, when for whatever reason, me you and Ron weren't on speaking terms."

"Oh." Said Harry, "Well, she must be alright then if she was content talking to you even knowing Pansy and co. hated you."

"It's hard to hate Pansy now though." Hermione said with a sad little sigh, "Knowing what happened to her."

"I know." Harry agreed as Hermione stood up and yawned, "I'm going to bed Harry, try to get to sleep, you don't want to be late for lessons tomorrow."

Harry hugged Hermione and bade her goodnight, she crossed the room and gave Ron a goodnight kiss before climbing the girls staircase to her dorm room. Harry and Ron did the same and found their dorm was the first door they came too. The door was marked with a sign saying, "GRYFFINDOR BOYS."

Harry grinned when he walked in. The room looked exactly like their Gryffindor common room dorm. Even the beds were in the same place and the trappings and décor was exactly the same. Harry was glad that he and Ron would spend their last year sharing with Neville, Dean and Seamus again, it just felt right.

The two boys changed into their pyjamas and said goodnight to each other before getting into bed. As Harry shut the curtains on his four poster he grinned and shut his eyes, he fell asleep easily that night knowing that he was home once again and that this time it was going to a peaceful, Voldemort free year.

_**TBC.**_


	5. Classes Begin

_The 8th Year_

_Chapter 5 - Classes Begin_

_**A/N - Okay so I love this chapter and I hope you guys feel the same! It may surprise you a little but oh well!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing!**_

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><p>Hermione and Ron were struggling not to laugh at Harry on the morning of September 2nd. He got up early and dressed at top speed and then proceeded to walk with a bounce in his step toward the great hall. It was clear he was happy to be back.<p>

"Why is our common room so high up?" Ron grumbled as they walked down the spiral staircase, he was breathing heavily and his face was red.

"You're so unfit Ron." Hermione said which of course offended the redhead, "What? Unfit? Hermione you've seen me topless!"

There was a giggle from behind them and Hermione blushed furiously, "Ron!"

"I'm just saying!" Ron said, glancing behind them to see the Hufflepuff Harry had learned was Megan and her friend Susan smiling at them, well Ron in particular.

"That wasn't my point!" Hermione said, recovering from her embarrassment, "I didn't mean physically I meant in a sporty way! You've stopped playing Quidditch, when you start playing again you'll be back to your normal…um, fit self."

There was more giggling and Hermione blushed again, Ron only grinned at this though.

"Get a room you two." Harry said jokingly as Ron took Hermione's hand on their way into the entrance hall. As they walked in from a side passage that worked as a shortcut they saw Ginny walk down the marble staircase.

"I'll meet you two in there." Harry said but they appeared to not even here him as they continued walking. Ginny smiled when she reached the bottom of the stairs and as if on autopilot he slipped his hand into hers, "Morning."

"Morning." Ginny said happily. Harry narrowed his eyes at her, "What's got you so happy?" He asked as they walked into the crowded great hall.

"Just being back." Ginny said, and before Harry could say he felt the same he heard someone shout his name, "Potter!"

When Harry turned around he realised it was Draco, "What?" He called back not bothering to go over to the table.

McGonagall had paused in her movement up the Gryffindor table to look at them as if she thought they were going to start jinxing each other.

"Slughorn told me to tell you he's having a party tonight at 8!" Draco shouted over the noise.

"Thanks!" Harry shouted back and McGonagall shook her head, she looked exasperated but her smile gave her away. When Harry and Ginny joined the Gryffindor table she said, "Mr. Potter it's nice to see you and Mr. Malfoy are on civil terms but I would appreciate it if you didn't hold conversations across the great hall."

Harry grinned, "Of course Professor, it won't happen again."

McGonagall tried and failed to look strict, Harry had seen past her façade now anyway. The Gryffindor head teacher handed them all a timetable and then brought out some badges, "With everything that happened we are a little behind schedule with all the badges and titles." She explained as she handed one to Hermione, "Miss. Granger, head girl, well done."

Hermione grinned broadly and stuck the badge onto her chest proudly. Ron smiled at her; he knew she'd always wanted to be head girl.

"Mr. Potter, Quidditch captain again." McGonagall said and he accepted the badge with a grin.

"Mr. Weasley and Mr. Thomas." McGonagall handed them each a shiny silver badge, "Prefects."

As McGonagall moved further up the table Harry glanced to the table closest to theirs, Hufflepuff. Professor Sprout had handed two silver badges out to Hannah Abbott and Ernie MacMillan and by the looks of it Justin Finch-Fletchely who played chaser had become the new Quidditch captain.

Further over at the Ravenclaw table Terry Boot and a 7th year he didn't know were wearing prefect badges and the Quidditch Captain title had gone to Michael Corner who was a beater for the team. Harry had to sit up a little straighter to see the Slytherin table at the opposite side of the hall from Gryffindor. From what he could see two 7th years had been made prefects and Draco and Theodore were both holding badges which meant one of them was head boy and the other Quidditch Captain.

Harry relayed his findings to Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

"Malfoy won't be Head boy." Hermione said matter of factly, "After all that happened with Dumbledore I don't think McGonagall can say he's a good example for the younger students."

"Says the head girl who ran off with undesirable number one effectively abandoning her last year of education." Ron said with a smirk, he knew what was coming and ducked when she swung her arm at him to whack him over the back of the head.

"I think helping bring Voldemort down is an excellent example for younger students." Hermione said as she crossed her arms and glared at Ron.

"I was just having a laugh." Ron muttered as he cowered away from Hermione's wrath. Harry chuckled and said to Ron and Ginny, "I'm going to hold Quidditch try outs on Saturday if you two want to rejoin the team."

Ron and Ginny nodded simultaneously, "I'll try out." Ron said simply and Ginny added, "Me too, I'm thinking of making a career out of it, I'd love to join the Holyhead Harpies."

Ron sniggered and Ginny glared at him, "Just because you don't think I'm good doesn't mean everyone else does." She said angrily.

"He's just being a git Ginny." Harry said casually, "And you are good, don't tell Angelina or Katie but I'd say your even better than they were."

"You're biased though." Hermione pointed out and Harry snorted, "Ron's my best mate and I'll admit that he played really badly sometimes in 6th year."

Ron glared at him but in good nature and Harry chuckled as he glanced down at his new timetable for the first time since McGonagall had handed it to him.

"Potions first Ron." Harry said as he glanced down the column for 'Monday'. His eyes scanned over Potions first period, a free period, Transfiguration, Herbology and then Defence Against the Dark Arts with the new teachers' name.

"Harry!"

"Ron!"

The two boys looked up at the same time, the same shocked expression on their faces.

"Did you see-" They both began and Hermione rolled her eyes, "We all saw it Ron." She said with a strange look at the name on the paper as if it wasn't real.

"But Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, "It says Professor Malfoy!"

Hermione glared at Ron, "I know what it says Ron!"

"I can't believe McGonagall is letting that bastard teach here!" Ron fumed, he had very bad memories of what had gone down in Malfoy manor, they all did, and although Bellatrix had been the one to inflict all the pain it had been Lucius Malfoys house…

"She must have her reasons Ron." Harry said with a glance over to the Slytherin table where Draco looked almost as fuming as Ron, clearly his Father hadn't told him about his new job.

"But-" Ron began and was cut off by Hermione, "I expect we'll find out what they are 5th period Ron." She said as she stood up, "Come on, we'll be late for Potions."

Hermione stalked off ahead of Harry and Ron and enroute to potions the redhead turned to Harry in complete confusion, "Harry I'd have thought what happened at Malfoy Manor would be worse for Hermione than me."

Harry sighed, he was suddenly aware that Draco and Blaise were walking close behind him, "It was Ron, it was probably the worst thing to ever happen to her, that's why she doesn't want to talk about it."

"But how can she be fine with him teaching us after-" Ron was cut off by Harry who understood Hermione's pain much more than her boyfriend did.

"Because Lucius Malfoy didn't do it. Sure he didn't stop it but the hell she went through was all Bellatrix and shes gone now, I think Hermione's had enough revenge for a lifetime." Harry reasoned and was glad they'd reached the door to the potions classroom so he and Ron wouldn't get into an argument about it.

When they got to the door everyone was waiting outside, Harry smiled at Hermione and whispered, "Don't be too hard on him, he's just never gone through something like that."

The way trauma had affected he and Hermione was something Ron had thankfully never known, Hermione seemed to notice this because she gave Harry a small nod and smiled at Ron.

The door to the classroom opened and as they walked in Slughorn told them to line up along the wall. The confused group did so. The N.E.W.T potions class had gotten a little larger but was still relatively small with only 12 students taking it.

"The Headmistress has asked all Teachers to sit pupils with classmates from different housemates to promote house unity." Slughorn told them all, "So unlike every other year you will be given a seat this year."

Ron groaned, he relied on Hermione to help him; he was terrible at Potions, Harry felt the same, ever since he'd lost the Princes book he'd gone back to being a dunce at the subject. Slughorn began picking people from the line at random and pairing them off. Blaise Zabini and Lavender Brown were given one of the two tables at the front of the classroom and Ron was given the second one and was paired with Daphne Greengrass. He smirked at Harry and Hermione glared at them both as he went to sit down next to the beautiful Slytherin.

Ernie MacMillan and Michael Corner were seated at the table behind Blaise and Lavender and Hermione and Theodore Nott behind Ron and Daphne. Harry glanced around, only he, Draco, Justin and Terry were left.

"Boot and Finch-Fletchely." Slughorn said, pointing to the table behind Hermione and Theodore. Harry's stomach dropped, this left he and Draco.

"Oh yes and Harry you and Mr. Malfoy in this corner here." Slughorn said with a smile at Harry, "I hope you'll make my little party tonight." He added as Harry and Draco silently took their seats and pulled their books out.

Slughorn told them what ingredients they'd need and wrote instructions on the board for making a hatred potion.

"Now this is a potion that will come in handy for anyone planning to be an Auror." Harry and Ron shared a grin across the classroom at this, Slughorn continued, "As it reveals the worst faults and habits of the target person to the drinker. Sometimes this can amount to nothing but if the target person happens to have a thirst for blood it can be assumed he has most likely acted on it."

As the instructions continued to write themselves up on the board he said, "Of course it is strictly for professional use, we will not be using it on anyone in the classroom today." Slughorn gave a slightly anxious laugh and left them to get on with the potion.

For the first 10 minutes of the lesson Draco and Harry chopped and stirred in awkward silence. The first to speak was Draco.

"It was horrible you know." He said in a quiet voice, "Watching her be tortured and not being able to do a thing to help."

Harry was sure he heard real remorse in the Slytherins tone but he didn't dare look him in the eye at that moment, instead he nodded, keeping his head on the rats tails he was cutting up, "I don't blame you. Bellatrix was the one…" He trailed off but he knew Draco understood.

Harry jumped and nearly cut himself when he felt a hand on his arm, frowning he looked at the Slytherin boy and could tell from one look at his face just how much he wished he could have done something for Hermione, "My family and I were proud, arrogant gits Potter but we never wanted to be murderers, we never wanted to torture people." His voice broke but he finished what he was saying, "I wish I could have done something."

After a moment Harry nodded, "I know." He said simply and the awkward air around them seemed to dissolve as they got back to their potions. Harry's mind was all over the place and he accidentally added the wrong amount of armadillo bile causing him to curse under his breath.

Draco chuckled from his left, "How the hell were you so good in 6th year?" He asked as he glanced at the thick substance in Harry's cauldron.

Not sure why Harry decided to confide in Draco, "The book I was using had loads of tips in it to make potions better."

"So you were cheating?" Draco asked, but he didn't sound annoyed, he sounded amused.

"Pretty much." Harry replied with a sheepish smile.

"Well it makes sense, I wondered how you could go from sucking at the subject to acing it." Draco said with another chuckle as he threw something in Harry's cauldron and stirred the thick mess a few times anti-clockwise. Harry glanced into the cauldron to see that the potion was the colour it was supposed to be again, "Thanks." Harry said to the blonde.

"I thought at first it was because Severus hated you and we had a new Professor." Draco continued, a look of deep pain flashing across his face at the mention of Severus Snape, "But I guess I was wrong."

"Oh no." Harry said, "It did have something to do with him. The book with all the hints in it was his when he was at Hogwarts."

Draco's eyes widened, "Really? Wow, my Mum told me he was good but if his book could turn you into a potions pro…" He trailed off with a smirk but there was a sadness in his eyes too.

"You know how he died right? And what he stood for?" Harry asked Draco who frowned, he clearly did not know the story behind Severus Snape. In fact very few people did, his funeral had not been a large affair, only a few teachers, Harry, Ron, Hermione and the Malfoys had attended.

"He was killed by the dark lord." Draco said simply, it was clearly all he knew.

"Two things, call him Voldemort, you're not his servant anymore." Harry said and ignored Draco's flinch at his old masters name, "And second, there is so much more to his death than that. Do you have a free period next?"

Draco nodded and Harry glanced at the clock, "Come to the common room and I'll explain."

Draco nodded for a second time and the two of them didn't talk much after that as they concentrated on their potions, occasionally Draco would point out something Harry was doing wrong or help put his potion right if he missed out a step but that was all. At least the environment was civil though, he had never thought he and Draco would achieve that, not with all the animosity that had been between them.

Harry had been the last to give his vial of potion to Slughorn and moments after he had done so the bell rang. He and Draco packed up a little slower than the others.

"Meet us in the courtyard at break Harry!" Ron called as he hurried out of the door with Hermione, he had taken up Ancient Runes for some odd reason, he assumed it was just to be in more classes with Hermione but it meant he had virtually no free periods.

When they had eventually packed up Harry and Draco walked through the quiet dungeon and into the entrance hall, "Where are you going?" Draco asked as Harry walked along the corridor that led to the Hufflepuff common room.

"I know a shortcut." Harry said and sure enough a moment later he tapped the wall and an opening appeared, the tunnel was lit with torches and was old and dusty.

"How did you find this?" Draco asked as they walked along the tunnel.

"Exploring." Harry replied simply as they reached a brick wall. Harry tapped it with his wand and opened onto a staircase, Draco realised they were halfway up the staircase to the Eastern tower where their common room was and it only took a few more minutes to get to the landing.

The voice of Dumbledore filled the landing again with a riddle, "The more of them you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?"

Harry and Draco were silent for a moment, "Footsteps?" Harry tried and the voice said cheerily, "Precisely!" The door swung open and Harry walked in, he dropped his bag and sunk into a scarlet armchair by the fire. Draco did the same and chose an emerald green armchair across from Harry.

"Kreacher." Harry said loudly and straight away with a crack the little elf appeared, "Yes Master Harry? Oh and you are with Master Draco." Kreacher bowed to Draco, "What can I do for Masters Harry and Draco?"

Harry smiled fondly, "It would be great if you could bring up some cakes and tea from the kitchens Kreacher."

"Right away Master Harry!" Kreacher said and vanished with a crack.

Draco looked impressed, "I wish I had my own house elf."

Harry shrugged, "I lost my Godfather and gained a house elf, I wouldn't say it was a fair trade."

Draco nodded, he knew how it felt to lose a Godfather too, he'd always been close to Severus, he'd helped him out of a few tough spots and he'd been there for him more than his parents had been with their busy lives.

Kreacher reappeared with a tray of tea and cakes, he bowed at Harry and vanished with another crack.. Harry sighed as he helped himself to some tea, "I think you'll need some tea to get through this story." Harry told Draco who made a cup as well and sat back in his chair, watching Harry anxiously, almost afraid to hear how his Godfather died.

Harry seemed to be looking for the right words to explain what had happened to Draco, eventually he spoke, "Severus Snape was a Hero though if he was alive he would never admit it." Harry began, "Severus joined the death eaters when he was young but ever since he was 10 years old he loved my muggle-born Mother with all his heart."

Draco's eyes widened, "Your Mother? Lily…Evans, was she?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, she and Severus grew up near each other, he lived in Spinners end and she lived further up in the big fancy houses." He explained, "They met before Lily got her Hogwarts letter and they were best friends right up until 5th year."

"But…your Mother, she was a Gryffindor." Draco said, he was now looking deeply confused.

"Yes, she was but that didn't stop their friendship. In the end my Mother had enough of his obsession with the dark arts and when he called her a mudblood their friendship was over but he never stopped loving her which is why he hated me so much." Harry said as Draco nodded as if a lot of things made sense now.

"Because you look like your Father…" Draco mumbled, more to himself than to Harry.

Harry pretended not to hear him, "When Severus found out that Voldemort planned to kill my Mum, Dad and me he went to Dumbledore and begged him to hide us and to save us. Dumbledore asked what he'd do in return and Severus said he'd do anything to ensure her safety."

"Anything." Draco echoed, he shook his head, he'd never felt love like that, "So what did Dumbledore make him do?"

"Spy for the light." Harry replied, "He's been a double Agent for years Draco. Voldemort was sure he was spying for him but he was actually spying for Dumbledore the whole time. Ever since Voldemort killed my Mother Severus was Dumbledores man."

Draco was silent as he took this in, Harry let him absorb the news and sipped his tea quietly, he helped himself to a cake with a cautious glance at Draco who was now rubbing his eyes with his robe sleeves. Harry looked away quickly and pretended he hadn't seen anything.

"So…that's why he was killed?" Draco asked in a shaky voice.

"No." Harry said quietly, "When my Mother died Dumbledore told Severus if he really loved her he'd make sure I was safe, it was the reason he saved me from Quirrell in first year and why I always ran into him when I was sneaking around Hogwarts at night. He really did hate me but he was protecting me for my Mother's sake. She had died to save me and he didn't feel her sacrifice would matter if I died."

Harry didn't know how much of this Draco could take so he decided to finish the story up quickly, "Dumbledore was sick in our 6th year, he only had a year to live so he arranged it all with Severus, he asked Severus to kill him. For that reason when Dumbledore died the last person to overpower him became the master of the elder wand."

"Me?" Draco asked in surprise, Harry knew he hadn't paid attention to what was said in the final showdown, he'd been too busy trying to find his parents.

Harry nodded, "Of course when I took your wand from you at your manor the ownership passed to me and that's how I defeated him in the end. Voldemort killed Severus because he didn't think he could be the true master of the wand until the person who killed Dumbledore was dead."

Draco shook his head in disbelief, "All these years he's been a spy. It just makes so much sense, he was always on edge…"

"I know he meant a lot to you." Harry said softly, "I know what its like to lose a Godfather, I know how much it feels like your losing a Father but I thought you should now that Severus died a Hero, he was the bravest man I ever knew."

Draco nodded, placing his teacup back on the tray, "Thank you." He said to Harry and everything he felt was in his words, Harry felt it had been right to share this with the Slytherin and he only hoped it would be the start of a new, shiny, better Draco Malfoy.

_**TBC.**_


	6. Ex Death Eaters & Unforgiveables

_The 8th Year_

_Chapter 6 - Ex-Death Eaters & Unforgivables_

_**A/N - I hope you like the fact I used Lucius. I'm a sucker for happy endings and I really want him to be a good guy.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing!**_

* * *

><p>"Harry, there you are!"<p>

Hermione sounded extremely anxious as Harry and Draco turned the corner into the corridor where the class were waiting to go into Transfiguration.

Harry tried not to roll his eyes, "Did you think I got kidnapped or something?" He asked jokingly.

"You didn't meet us in the courtyard." Hermione said and Ron was eying Harry suspiciously, he hadn't missed the fact that he and Malfoy had turned up together for class.

"Sorry Mione I had a date with a cup of tea and Draco Malfoy." Harry said with an amused smirk.

"I wouldn't put it that way in front of your girlfriend Potter." Draco said in amusement as Ginny and Luna appeared behind Harry.

"Who have you been on dates with?" Ginny asked with a raised eyebrow at her boyfriend.

"Oh just Malfoy." Harry replied with a grin as he kissed her on the cheek.

Malfoy only shook his head in amusement, Hermione looked confused and Ron looked like his head might explode, "Harry! What the hell is going on?" He asked loudly.

"Calm down Ron." Harry said, "I just explained to him about Severus, he had a right to know, the man was his bloody Godfather."

"Oh." Ron said, and Draco looked a little embarrassed as he turned to talk to Daphne and Tracey. "That was sweet of you." Hermione said quietly so that Draco couldn't hear.

"As long as you don't really start going on dates with him I agree with Mione." Ginny joked with a devious smile as the classroom door opened and McGonagall informed them of her new house unity seating plan. Harry sighed, if all classes were like this he'd never get to sit with Ron and Hermione. Again they were all seated in twos and this time Ron ended up with Terry Boot and Hermione with Sadie Cauldwell, neither of them seemed very bothered about their partners and they were at the table next to each other. Harry was paired with Daphne at the table behind Ron and the redhead winked at him, he knew about Harry's brief crush on the Slytherin girl. Ginny got paired with Draco and they were sitting at the back of the classroom, Harry glanced at them and was surprised to see them talking, he remembered what Ginny had said about Draco helping them out a lot last year and it made sense.

"Well lucky me." Daphne said from next to Harry, "I get to sit with the chosen one."

Harry raised an eyebrow at the blonde girl who smiled, "I'm Daphne Greengrass, I was in your Potions class in 6th year."

"I remember you." Harry said and the conversation stopped there as the lesson went underway.

The rest of the day went by very slowly and Harry wished for it to be 5th period so he could find out why Lucius Malfoy was teaching at Hogwarts. After Transfiguration Harry headed to Herbology where thankfully they got to choose their seats around the long table which meant Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville could sit together and talk in undertones about the war as they popped open puffapod seeds. Lunch passed quickly and Harry, Ron and Hermione hurried up to the 3rd floor to wait outside their Defence Against the Dark Arts room. 5 minutes later the rest of the class had turned up, including a slightly sour looking Draco.

The door opened and a silky voice instructed them to come in. The room looked much better than he had last seen it when Professor Snape had taught. The windows were no longer blacked out and the room was very light. The gross pictures had been taken off the walls and the tables had been changed from two seater tables to three and four seater tables.

"The Headmistress has informed me that the best way to ensure house unity is to not let you choose your own seats." Lucius Malfoy said in his quiet yet enrapturing voice, everyone was listening intently.

"However doing so will only cause tension so you may choose your own seats." Lucius continued, Harry, Ron and Hermione were fast, they grabbed the table for three at the back of the room and watched Lucius cautiously from where he was casually leaning against the stone railing of the little balcony that led to his office. Draco, Daphne, Blaise and Theodore sat down at a table for 4 next to the trio and Mandy, Sadie and Tracey sat down in front of Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Lucius lazily flicked his wand and made a blackboard appear at the front of the class. Sadie sighed and whispered to Tracey, "Draco's Dad is so hot."

Harry and Ron shared a look of disgust and Tracey raised her eyebrows at her friend, "And so married, he's like 40 Sadie, don't go there."

"I was just saying." Sadie muttered as Lucius spoke up again.

"Looking around this classroom I see a majority of Gryffindors." Lucius said, he looked specifically at Harry, "And I'm sure many of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws may also wonder why the Headmistress appointed me to teach you this subject."

There was silence as they waited for him to speak again, "Your Headmistress believes it is important that your teacher understands the dark arts and who better understands them than a known ex-death eater?" The question was rhetorical and you could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed.

Lucius straightened up and placed both hands on the stone railing, "I have witnessed things I wish I'd never seen. I've had the cruciatus curse performed on me several times; I've spent months under the imperius curse."

Harry hadn't known any of this, but he knew that Voldemort had enjoyed hurting his followers so him using crucio on Lucius didn't come as a big shock.

Lucius continued, "Many have sworn to reform themselves now that Lord Voldemort has been defeated but few of them are genuine in saying this." He walked down the stairs and leaned against his desk, "However I am one of the few who is. By teaching this subject I hope to mend the damage I did during the War by making sure you are all well prepared for the future."

Again there was a shocked silence, he was being very honest with them all, "Although Lord Voldemort will not be coming back there are several of his followers out there who have escaped capture and may still hold grudges, if you ever meet one of these people I want you to be prepared."

Hermione, Ron and Harry all exchanged looks in the silence that followed. Draco still didn't look very happy.

"Any questions?"

Cautiously Dean Thomas raised his hand. "Yes Mr. Thomas?"

"If you don't mind me asking Professor, how did you and your family escape Azkaban?" Dean asked nervously.

Surprisingly Lucius answered honestly, "We were vouched for anonymously for changing sides towards the end of the War." This was true, although it had really been for their own gain, Draco had certainly changed, Narcissa had lied and saved Harry's life in the forest. They hadn't even fought in the final battle, that said a lot for them really.

As Harry caught Lucius' eye he was sure that the older man knew that Harry had been the one who had vouched for them but a second later Lucius looked away.

No one else raised their hands so Lucius spoke again, "Now today I want to figure out what you've covered and what you know. I'm aware you learned about the unforgivable curses in 4th year but I'd like to recap them."

Lucius flicked his wand again and the three unforgivable curses appeared on the board. "I'm sure if you were asked in your 4th year to raise your hand if you had used any of these curses no hands would have gone up." Lucius said as he leaned against the desk once more, "However we are in a post-War period so I would ask you to answer honestly with no shame."

They all knew what was coming and Harry wondered how many other hands would go up into the air when Lucius asked the question.

"Raise your hand if you have used one unforgivable curse." Lucius said as he himself raised his hand. Harry raised his hand slowly; he had used two, cruciatus and imperius. Harry saw Draco raise his hand, he had cast the cruciatus curse on Rowle after he, Ron and Hermione escaped Tottenham Court road. Several more hands rose into the air including Ron and Hermione's, they had clearly used crucio in the final battle, Neville's hand was also in the air. Lavender Brown raised a shaky hand but Parvati, Tessie and Isabelle didn't raise their hands. All of the Hufflepuffs hands remained down and the only Ravenclaw hand in the air was Michael Corners who Harry remembered seeing use crucio on a death eater who was about to attack Ginny in the final battle. All of the Slytherins hands were in the air except for Theodore Notts.

Lucius didn't seem surprised by this. Harry did a quick head count and realised that in a class of 26 pupils 12 people had performed one unforgivable curse, "Alright. Now keep your hand in the air if you've used 2 unforgivable curses." He didn't drop his hand at this point either.

Harry gulped as many hands dropped from the air. He had vowed to himself to be honest in this lesson so he kept his hand in the air. A glance at Draco told him that he too had his hand in the air still. He had used the imperius curse on Madam Rosmerta as well as the cruciatus curse. Hermione's hand dropped but Ron's remained up; he had also used the imperius curse on Bogrod when they were in Gringotts. Harry was not surprised to find that only he, Ron and Draco had their hands in the air now.

"And keep your hand in the air if you have used all three unforgivable curses." Lucius said and this time his hand dropped from the air as did Draco's and Harry's, only Ron kept his hand in the air.

"Who did you kill Mr. Weasley?" Lucius asked in his silky voice.

"No one." Ron replied honestly, "But I did cast the killing curse on Voldemorts snake during the final battle."

"I see." Lucius said, and he turned to Harry, "You of course Mr. Potter have used crucio and imperio, yes?" Lucius didn't seem to be showing any kind of hate toward Harry, just curiosity.

"Yes." Harry said truthfully.

"How many times?" Lucius asked as he walked closer to the desk where Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting.

"I cast imperio twice and I've only used the cruciatus curse once." Harry said, Lucius nodded and turned on his heel, as he walked away he said, "I assume everyone who admitted to using one unforgivable is referring to using the cruciatus curse."

There was a murmur of, "Yes." Around the room as Lucius resumed his spot leaning against the desk, "Now raise your hand if you have ever had the cruciatus curse used on you."

Much more hands flew into the air this time. In fact the only hands that were not in the air were those of Megan, Zacharias, Isabelle and Tessie. Megan and Zacharias hadn't been at Hogwarts during the final battle, neither had Isabelle and Tessie as far as Harry knew but they'd never been in the DA so would probably not have stood up to him anyway. Every hand in the room that was raised belonged to a DA member with the exception of the Slytherins and it surprised him to see these hands all raised.

Lucius had also raised his hand and again didn't seem surprised at the number of hands in the air, "Keep your hand in the air if that curse was cast by Lord Voldemort."

Many hands dropped at this but Lucius kept his in the air as did Draco, Blaise, Harry and Neville.

Lucius nodded, "And you will know the difference because he could cast the strongest, most painful cruciatus curses in the world." He said as he dropped his hand and the others did too.

"Now there is no real way to fight the cruciatus curse like there is with the imperius curse but I'm going to try to teach you to block it with strong shield charms. The problem with this method of course is that you have to see it coming." Lucius said and he then paired them off and got them to practice very strong shield charms.

Harry was surprised by how fair a teacher Lucius was, he awarded Harry 10 points for his shield charm and Harry was very proud as he saw the DA members produce strong effective shields that he had taught them. It was actually a very interesting and productive lesson.

"That was good." Ron said to Harry as they walked from the 3rd floor in the direction of the North tower.

Harry nodded, "Hermione was okay as well." He said, not aware of Draco walking behind them, "He's a pretty fair teacher, Lucius Malfoy."

"Do you think he's really a better person?" Ron asked, and Harry sighed, he shrugged, "I don't know, its hard to tell. I think he's getting there, I mean you heard the way he talked about the curses…and he calls him Voldemort now rather than the dark lord."

A voice from behind them made Harry and Ron jump, "Yeah, the way he talked about the curses." Said Draco's cold voice, "You'd never guess it was the same man who watched his death eater friends use crucio on his 6 year old son for coming downstairs for a drink during one of their meetings."

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance and Harry subtly mouthed, "Go!"

Ron didn't seem to want to stick around so he did so, mumbling about going to the toilet before divination.

"What class do you have?" Harry asked casually.

"Free." Draco said as he walked alongside Harry. The Gryffindor nodded, "Fancy a walk?"

"Sure." Draco said and Harry and he proceeded to walk through the quiet halls. It was clear right now that Draco needed a friend.

"I grew up with muggles who wanted to beat the magic out of me." Harry said to Draco, "From the age of 4 my Uncle would hit me and kick me around, they made me cook their breakfast and clean their house. They treated me like a house elf; I even lived in a cupboard."

Draco clearly hadn't known this, "It's not the life that everyone assumed the great Harry Potter would have had."

Harry nodded, "I know. I used to lie in bed and wish for something to happen, I use to wish for a way to get out of that place and then my Hogwarts letter came." He had never told anyone this except Ron, Hermione and Ginny and he wasn't even sure why he was telling Draco this now.

"My Father and Mother never had much time for me." Draco said with a sigh as they walked out of the grand staircase and onto a spiral one instead, "My Mother cared more about her friends and entertaining for them. I spent most of my childhood alone in my room when they had all of their big parties."

Harry and Draco were so much more alike than they had ever known; they had both had terrible childhoods. Draco wasn't looking at Harry as he spoke, "My Father never used the curses on me and he never lay a hand on me but he turned a blind eye to it when his death eaters friends did it, and he just stood and watched whenever the-" Draco cleared his throat, "Whenever Voldemort did it."

"He did it more than once?" Harry asked and Draco nodded, he turned to look at him for the first time, "The first time I was 15, after that he would punish my parents by torturing me."

"And I thought I had it bad." Harry muttered as he shook his head, "I guess its why you're angry your Dad's working here."

"Yeah." Draco said darkly, "He stood back and watched while his own son was tortured and now he's teaching other peoples kids how to avoid it."

"And you think he's a hypocrite." Harry finished as they reached the top of the stairs and the silver ladder dropped down from the roof, "Harry dear you're late!" Trelawney's misty voice drifted down.

Harry rolled his eyes at Draco who smiled, "Thanks for…you know."

"No problem." Harry said as he began to climb the ladder into the attic room, "See you later in the common room." He said with a wave as he clambered into the room and did a double take. He'd forgotten how foggy and heavily scented it was.

Harry walked over to a table where Ron was sitting with Susan Bones and sat down on a pink pouffe next to his best friend.

"My inner eye tells me that your lateness is due to helping out a friend!" Trelawney said dramatically and Harry was startled, she'd actually gotten it right for once.

"Uh, yeah actually, I was." Harry said, and Ron seemed impressed by Trelawney's improvement since they'd last had her as a teacher.

"I am delighted to have you back with us Harry." Trelawney said, "As we have such a little class we are happy to welcome anyone else!" She spread her arms and her shawls fell from her shoulders making her look like a bat.

The class was indeed small; there were 4 circular tables of three. Next to them sat Dean, Seamus and Megan. Behind Ron and Harry sat the three Slytherin girls, Daphne, Tracey and Sadie. At the last table Harry wasn't at all surprised to see Lavender, Parvati and Padma.

They spent the double lesson discussing a famous old Wizard who had predicted his future by analysing his dreams, they got their first homework of the day and it was to keep a week long dream diary. Harry and Ron shared an amused grin at this; as usual they would make up their dreams and make them as crazy and lethal as possible to please Trelawney.

When the class was over and Harry and Ron were making their way to the great hall for dinner Ron asked about Draco, "What did you talk to Malfoy about?"

"His Dad, and the cruciatus curse." Harry said, unsure whether he should tell Ron everything or not, it was Draco's business after all…

"Are you two best friends now or something?" Ron asked bitterly.

Harry frowned, "No." He said truthfully, "Ron you need to get over this grudge. I was talking to Draco about the fact his Dads friend used an unforgivable on him when he was 6 years old." Harry shook his head in disbelief at how rude Ron could be sometimes, "You may feel sorry for yourself because your family struggled for money and you're blood traitors but you've had it better than him. Would you rather be a rich pureblood who gets tortured by his parent's friends?"

Ron was silent for the rest of the walk and Harry could tell he was feeling guilty, "I'll try and you know…be civil to him." Ron finally said when he and Harry reached the entrance hall.

Harry merely nodded and hoped Ron would keep his word, he believed in McGonagalls new house unity rules but the way Ron had been acting with Draco had done nothing to enforce them.

* * *

><p>"I hate this door!"<p>

Ron, Hermione and Harry had emerged on the landing to the common room after dinner to find a small crowd. 8 people were crammed into the landing and none of them it seemed could figure out the riddle. Blaise was nursing a painful foot after kicking the door.

Hermione sighed, "What is the riddle?" She asked.

"A man moves into a new house. After the journey he is exhausted and turns off all the lights before going to bed. The next morning he wakes up to discover he has killed 365 people. He does not sleep walk. How could this be?" Asked the voice of Albus Dumbledore.

"Stupid door." Blaise mumbled with a glare at the door for good measure.

"I cant work any of them out either." Ron said to Harry who merely shrugged, "Some of them are just common sense."

"The answers easy anyway." Hermione said, "The man lives in a lighthouse."

"Ah, clever girl!" Said Dumbledore and the door swung open.

"What the hell is a lighthouse?" Asked an annoyed Blaise.

"It's like a muggle tower, theres a big light that helps the ships see where they're going so they don't crash into the rocks." Draco said and a few people were surprised that he knew the answer to a muggle related question.

"Well it's a stupid riddle, how are we supposed to know about muggle towers?" Blaise asked no one in particular and Draco just shrugged and grabbed a book before getting comfy in front of the fire. Harry, Ron and Hermione took up three of the other seats closest to the fire and Harry and Ron decided to start their dream diary. As they had expected it was as amusing as it had ever been.

"I had a dream about getting chased by a murderer with an axe and it means that…" Ron trailed off in thought and Harry finished for him, "That your life is going to be in danger from someone you consider a friend."

"Yeah that will be right if you keep flirting with Daphne in Potions." Hermione muttered and Harry snickered at this. Ron glared at his friend, "Oh shut up Harry, you had a massive crush on her in 6th year." This effectively shut Harry up.

"And I wasn't flirting with her Mione, I was just talking to her, she's friendly." Ron defended himself and Hermione just gave him a look that said, 'yeah right.'

"Oh come one you sit next to Nott, I'm not saying your flirting with him or that Harry's flirting with Malfoy!" Ron exclaimed loudly and a few people in the common room turned to look at them all, Malfoy and Harry laughed at the silence that had fallen over the common room.

"If you two are going to have another lovers quarrel don't have it in the common room." Harry joked as he wrote a new dream in his dream diary. Ron and Hermione shut up after that, they just glared at each other instead.

"I think I'll actually put one real dream in here." Harry said thoughtfully after they'd been at work for about half an hour.

"You actually remember one?" Ron asked as he shut the book and put it away in his bag.

Harry nodded, "Yeah, last night I had a dream that my broomstick got annoyed because I insulted it and it wouldn't work for me in the game so Slytherin won!" He seemed annoyed even as he spoke about it, he was determined that Gryffindor would win this year.

Ron laughed loudly at the dream, "What do you think it means?" He asked through his laughter.

"That you are going to crash and burn against us in the first game of the season." Draco said with a smirk from where he sat a few armchairs away.

"You wish Malfoy." Harry snorted, Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry, "Well may the best Captain win." He said as he looked back down at his book.

Harry wasn't going to let his new friendship with Draco ruin his chances in the Quidditch cup and he found himself excited for try outs on Saturday but the problem was that it was only Monday….

**TBC.**


	7. Mirror Charms

_The 8th Year_

_Chapter 7 - Mirror Charms_

_**A/N - I got the idea for this out of an episode of Smallville in which a mirror box sent Clark to an alternate reality where his Father was Lionel Luthor! :o**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing!**_

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><p>On Tuesday afternoon Harry, Ron and Hermione had double Charms which had begun as a very normal lesson and had quickly become complete chaos…<p>

"Today we will be performing mirror charms." Squeaked Professor Flitwick. Thankfully in Charms they had also been allowed to sit where they wanted. Everyone had a rat on the table in front of them, "Now the mirror charm will create a mirror image of something, for example a mirror charm on your rat should mirror it so it faces the other way."

Everyone had starting talking and to some of the class the end of his speech was drowned out, "However! If the mirror charm is used on humans it can have strange effects so please be careful!"

The room was loud as usual and full of flashes of lights and bangs and the smell of smoke as charms went wrong. The trio were talking under their breath about plans to have a party on Saturday night to christen their new common room. Harry was in the middle of telling Ron about how they should sneak to Hogsmeade and smuggle some butterbeer in when the chaos began.

At the front of the classroom Lavender and Parvati screamed, their mirror charms had bounced off an actual mirror as Parvati fixed her hair, with a bang three jets of light rocketed around the room before eventually hitting three people. Those three people happened to be Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter who heard screams of panic and fear and then felt and heard nothing…

* * *

><p>Draco Malfoy opened his eyes to nothing but a dull grey fog. As he squinted it began to melt away and the place he was standing in became clearer. This was Kings cross station, only it was duller than he remembered yet still in colour. Draco frowned as he walked around the crowded station, he was walking right through people, this couldn't be real but then if it wasn't real what was it?<p>

"BOY! Hurry up or you'll miss your train to freak school." Draco turned at the voice and saw a man he was distantly related too, he was a muggle cousin that his Father had pretended hadn't existed and there was he, Draco, a small 11 year old boy dressed in second hand clothes and looking terrified at the man who was pushing him toward the train. The image dissolved and the fog once again obscured everything. When it cleared Draco was in the Great Hall waiting to be sorted. His name was called out and he sat on the stool and was placed in Gryffindor.

"What the Hell…" Draco muttered as the scene changed to a dark stormy night and a hooded man walking up a path. Draco recognised the house he was walking into as Malfoy Manor and he hurried after the hooded figure. The man broke into the house and walked into the hall where he duelled with Lucius Malfoy.

"Not my son." Lucius was saying, "I won't let you kill my son."

The figure, Voldemort, let out a cold high pitched laugh, "You are foolish if you think you can beat me. You should have joined me when you had the chance." He waved his wand and without saying a word a flash of green light hit Lucius and killed him. Draco cried out but no one heard him and confused he followed the figure who he assumed to be Voldemort upstairs where he watched him break down the bedroom door where his Mother was standing with a one year version of him in her arms.

"Not Draco! Please not Draco!" Narcissa begged as tears fell down her face, "Kill me instead, he's just a baby, not Draco please."

"Stand aside you silly girl." Said Voldemort coldly but Narcissa did no such thing. Voldemort raised his wand and Narcissa put Draco in his cot and shielded him so the killing curse hit his Mother. The baby Draco screamed as his Mothers limp body fell to the ground and he watched Voldemort walk towards him and try to kill him but fail.

With a jolt Draco realised that this wasn't his life. It was Harry Potter's. The mirror charm had obviously switched their identities; this was how Draco's life would be if he had been the chosen one…

The scene changed again and this time when the fog cleared there was a battle going on, in the midst of it he saw Harry dressed as a death eater and then in the middle of the great hall was himself battling Voldemort.

"You made a mistake Tom!" Draco yelled as he circled Voldemort, "You don't understand love and its the most powerful and dangerous type of magic there is."

"Love." Voldemort scoffed, "Is love whats got you by all these years Draco? I'm more powerful than you will ever be and I will finish you tonight."

"No, you won't." Draco said as he stopped with his wand at the ready, "My Mother died to save my life and that sacrifice and the fact its in your blood is the stupidest thing you've ever done." Draco said, "And the elder wand, I bet you didnt know that I'm the true master of it."

Draco watched as he disarmed Voldemort and his own killing curse deflected on him, ultimately defeating him.

After he crumbled to the ground Draco hugged Ron Weasley and kissed Hermione Granger. Wishing he could get back to his own life he was thankful when the scene dissolved and he heard muttering around him. Draco opened his eyes to find himself in the hospital wing and he saw Daphne and Blaise by his bed.

"Draco!" Daphne exclaimed, "Are you alright?"

"Ugh!" Draco said, shaking his head to rid the memory, "I was Potter!"

"What?" Blaise asked looking utterly perplexed.

"I had some weird vision or something…" Draco said with a frown as he tried to recall, "But I was Potter, Voldemort killed my parents and I lived with muggles then I killed Voldemort…It was like Potter's life was my life."

"You were hit with a mirror charm." Daphne said gently, "Professor Flitwick said it would mess with your head and show you an alternate universe, that's obviously what happened."

Draco was quiet for a moment and was glad when Blaise left. He turned to Daphne, "Don't tell anyone I'm saying this but after seeing that I feel sorry for him."

Daphne looked sympathetic, "I know how you feel, when you find out someone else has had a crappy life too you kind of have to relate."

"Exactly." Draco said, glad that Daphne understood. He glanced to his right where Harry and Hermione lay unconscious, by their beds sat Ginny and Ron.

"They haven't woken up yet." Daphne explained, "Madam Pomfrey says you'll wake up in the order you got hit so Granger should be next."

"I wonder whats happening inside their heads…" Draco muttered as he looked at the two sleeping figures. Seeing that had been the most unsettling thing ever and he suddenly had an urge to go talk to his Father…

* * *

><p>When Hermione Granger opened her eyes she wasn't in the Charms classroom or even in the hospital wing, she was at Platform 9 ¾ with her parents who were dressed in robes so were clearly magical but she knew that wasn't right, they were muggles, they were dentists…<p>

"Have a good year at Hogwarts darling." Said her Mother.

"You'll be a Slytherin like us I expect!" Said her Father.

11 year old Hermione kissed them on the cheek and got onto the train where she immediately found Draco Malfoy…

Before Hermione could figure out what was going on a flash of bright light blinded her for a moment and when she opened her eyes this time she was in the Slytherin common room and looked around 15 years old. She was lying with her head in Draco's lap and they were discussing their hatred of Harry Potter.

Hermione suddenly realised she'd taken Pansy's place and that this reality or whatever it was, was happening in her head because of…what could cause something like this? Then it hit her, the mirror charm that had backfired. This was the complete opposite of the life Hermione lived hence why the charm had caused it.

Another flash of light blinded Hermione and when she opened her eyes for the third time she was in the midst of a battle, it was clear from her clothing she was a death eater and in a duel that was taking place outside of the library she was taken down by Dawlish.

Hermione knew this wasn't real and she willed herself to wake up, she shut her eyes tight and prayed that when she opened them this time she'd be back in the normal world.

With a gasp Hermione's eyes shot open and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw an anxious and pale Ron sitting by her bed in the hospital wing.

"You're awake." Ron breathed, "Are you okay? What happened?"

"It's some kind of alternate reality." Said a voice and Hermione turned to where Daphne was sitting by Draco, "The mirror charm shows you a reality that is completely parallel to your own."

"That makes sense." Hermione said as her head cleared and she felt more like her old self, "I was a pureblood, and a Slytherin." She made a face, "And I was going out with Malfoy."

Draco peered around Daphne at Hermione, "In mine I was best friends with Weasel and dating you Granger, I share your disgust I assure you."

"I'm glad to hear it." Hermione said honestly and Daphne chuckled, "I wonder whats going on inside Harry's head."

"Well, if what you say is true and these alternate worlds are completely parallel to now Harry will probably envision himself living Draco's life." Hermione reasoned as she too looked at her unconscious best friend.

"I don't envy him if that's the case." Draco said as he lay back against his pillows, for some reason he felt exhausted like he'd run a marathon.

"Do you reckon there will be any long term damage?" Ron asked them all in general. Hermione shook her head but Daphne answered, "I doubt it, Flitwick did say that mirror charms on people are like some sort of bad trip so you guys will feel awful for a couple of days but that's about it."

"Great." Hermione groaned, "Trust this to happen on the second day of classes."

"I've always wondered why this stuff only ever happened to you lot." Draco said, glaring at them both, "And I try to be nice to you all and this is what happens."

Daphne rolled her eyes at him, "Go to sleep and wake up in a better mood." She ordered him with a raised eyebrow.

Draco grumbled but decided to try and get to sleep anyway; he did feel awful after all…

* * *

><p>The moment Harry Potter opened his eyes he knew that something was very wrong. The first sign of this was that everything was bright, too bright. The second sign was that he didn't remember how he got here or even know where here was.<p>

After a minute of adjusting to the new lighting conditions Harry realised that he was in the back garden of the house he had lived in at Godrics Hollow. The grass was green and the sky blue and the sun was beating down into the garden.

Harry frowned as he heard laughter from inside the house. Moments later three teenagers emerged from the house all of them looked to be around 14 or 15 years old and were wearing shorts and t-shirts and holding water guns. Amongst these three teenagers was he, Harry, but he looked very different. This Harry's face was the same shape and his eyes the exact same shape and size and colour. However this Harry was very handsome with darker hair that stopped at his shoulders but was styled and wet from the waterfight that had obviously just gone on.

The other two teenagers were Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson which in itself wasn't right and didn't make any sense. Harry watched in bewilderment as this other him grabbed Pansy around the waist and kissed her while Draco jeered and sprayed them with water.

What the Hell was going on here?

"Are you kids' hungry?" Called an amused voice from the house and none other than his Mother, Lily, walked out with a tray of food and a jug of lemonade. She levitated it with her wand and set it down on the garden table. She smiled fondly at them all, "Harry your Father's going to be home a little later tonight but he promised to make your birthday party." Lily said and she returned back to the house.

"2 more years Mate." Draco said as he took a sandwich off the tray, "Then you'll officially be a man."

Pansy giggled from where she was sitting on Harry's knee, "He's already a man." She said suggestively and Draco rolled his eyes and told them to get a room.

The scene then began to fade away and Harry realised what must be happening. This was sort of like a pensieve but these weren't memories, they couldn't be memories because none of this had ever happened. Harry therefore concluded that this was some kind of illusion, hallucination of sorts. It was then he remembered the backfiring mirror charm and wondered if this could be an idea of what his life would have been like if he had taken Draco's hand that day.

Then again though why would his parents still be alive? And why did he look different? Harry got these answers when the new scene got clearer. It was now dark and there were lanterns and real fairies lighting a long table in the back garden of the Godrics Hollow house. At the table Harry recognised Remus Lupin as well as Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. There was also his Mother there at the end of the table as they all sat and talked.

"He promised to be here on time Harry." Lily said with a sigh, "He mentioned something about an ex-death eater that they needed to find."

So James was still an Auror then. A pop came from the gate and Lily turned around with a smile, "Here he is!"

Lily hurried over to the gate and wrapped her arms around the man who had walked in wearing a thick travelling cloak, "I was so worried when you mentioned old death eaters!" Lily said as she pulled the hood on his cloak down and kissed him lightly on the lips.

The man smiled, "I told you I'd be fine." Said Severus Snape.

Harry's jaw dropped as he watched the man kiss his Mother and smile at her like that. In this odd little world his Mother had fallen for Snape…this is how his life would have been if she had chosen Snape instead? They would have lived…Well of course they would have. Snape would never have heard the prophecy so Voldemort would never have killed the Potter's and with Lily he wouldn't join the death eaters. But then who would kill Voldemort? Someone else, Dumbledore probably, must have discovered his horcruxes and killed him that way and Harry would have a normal life with two parents.

"I'm sorry I nearly missed his birthday Lils, but I promised I'd be back in time. It's not everyday you're only child turns 15." Severus said as he discarded the cloak and walked over to Harry.

"Dad!" Harry exclaimed when he saw him, he jumped up and hugged the man he was calling Dad and a little part of Harry sort of wished for this easier, happier life, "I've not seen you all week."

"I know Harry I'm sorry, the mission was a difficult one but I made it back for your birthday, just like I promised." Severus said and with a grin he handed Harry a present, it was a small box and when he opened it he found a watch inside, "It was mine when I was your age, but its yours now."

Harry put the watch on his wrist happily and hugged Severus once more with a, "Thanks Dad!"

Harry was so completely gob smacked that he didn't notice the scene was changing until it already had. Harry was now at Hogwarts. He was in a Potions classroom with a man that had to be an older James Potter, he was wearing glasses and his hair was as messy as ever but he had lost his boyish good looks and seemed slightly gaunt now.

"Mr. Snape." Said James very unpleasantly to Harry who was sitting at the front of the class and looked to be around 7th year age now, "I have had enough of your cheek. You are just as stubborn as your Father was, detention with me on Friday!"

The bell ring and an annoyed Harry stomped off with Draco, "I hate him so much." Harry was saying to Draco who seemed to be his Ron in this…whatever this was.

"I know." Draco was saying with a glance behind him, "He's hated you since he first saw you. He's just a git Harry, no one likes him."

"But he hates me most of all." Harry said bitterly, "And he's so biased! He's always giving his precious Gryffindors points."

"Yeah well he is head of Gryffindor." Draco said with an amused grin as Harry growled, "I'm going to go talk to Dad, I'll meet you in the great hall."

"Kay, see you!" Draco called as Harry walked up the marble staircase and hurried as fast as he could to the 3rd floor. Harry followed himself as he walked through the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and up the balcony into the little office.

Severus looked up with a smile when his son walked in, Harry found this so surreal to watch, "Ah, Harry, come to complain?" He asked fondly.

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed as he slammed the door in annoyance.

"Sometimes I think my job at the Ministry was easier than this one." Severus muttered jokingly as Harry began to pace the office.

"Professor Potter hates me!"

"Yes, he does." Severus said thoughtfully.

"He's hated me since he first saw me!" Harry added.

"You're quite right." Said Severus ever so casually.

"For no reason!" Harry exploded.

"Well you know there is reason." Severus said as he gave an essay a D and placed it aside, "He hates you because you remind him of me and I'm the man who married the woman he was in love with."

"Yeah well he's an idiot." Harry said weakly and real Harry was watching this scene with mixed feelings. Severus and James had literally switched roles here and while Harry had half wished for this life he didn't like the fact that his Father was so bitter now because Severus had gotten Lily instead of James, did that mean that James had become a death eater? Surely not.

"Yes, James Potter is indeed an idiot." Severus said as he put his quill down and stood up, "Shall we go get some dinner?" He asked and Harry sighed, "Sure." He said as they left the office together.

"Don't tell your Mother that I called him an idiot by the way. You know how she is." Severus said and as laughter echoed around the room the scene faded away and Harry sat up with a jolt.

When he opened his eyes he realised he was in the hospital wing and that his breathing was heavy. If that had all been a dream it had been very vivid.

"Snape was my Dad…" Harry said more to himself than anyone else.

A voice from his left said, "Wow, and I thought mine was bad."

Harry turned to see Draco propped up in the bed next to his, "What?" He asked in confusion. Daphne and Ginny had gone as had Hermione, it had taken Harry a while longer to wake up and the sky outside was dark now.

"Daphne says the mirror charms that hit us made us have some kind of vision of an alternate world completely parallel to our own." Draco said as matter of factly as he could.

Harry wiped the sweat of his forehead and was glad he was able to control his breathing now, "Well my Mum married Severus instead of my Dad and they didn't die. I was raised by parents…" Harry trailed off, "I was a Slytherin, and you were my best friend, and Pansy…she was my girlfriend. And my real Dad was the Potions Professor who hated me for being Snapes son!"

"That's pretty messed up." Draco admitted and he threw a bar of honeydukes chocolate at Harry, "It works, trust me." He said.

Harry opened the chocolate bar and bit into it just for something to do but instantly he felt the effects and started to feel much better.

"Told ya it works." Draco said as he read the expression on Harry's face.

"What was your vision or whatever it was, like?" Harry asked the Slytherin curiously.

"The opposite of yours pretty much." Draco said thoughtfully, "My Parents were killed by Voldemort, I was raised by muggles, and I was a Gryffindor." He looked rather disgusted, "And as if that wasn't enough Weasley was my best friend, I was dating Granger and I was the one who defeated Voldemort."

"So, in some respects, we switched lives." Harry said slowly. Draco nodded, "I guess so." He reasoned and at the same time they both shivered.

"I think I prefer my life the way it is." Draco said and Harry smiled, "Me too." He said truthfully and he meant it. Despite his doubts Harry knew he wouldn't be who he was without everything he'd gone through and he wouldn't give up Ron, Hermione and Ginny for the world. Yet he couldn't just put the vision out of his mind because it had reminded him of all that Severus Snape had been and how so few people knew his story. In that moment Harry vowed to find a way to make sure that everyone knew Severus Snapes story, he wanted to make sure that everyone knew how much of a Hero he had been.

_**TBC!**_


	8. A Wild & Crazy Experience

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 8 – A Series of Strange and Mysterious Events**

**_A/N - This chapter is kind of weird and crazy, apologies if you don't enjoy it!_**

**_Disclaimer: I swear I own nothing!_**

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><p>It was Thursday morning and Harry had been so busy compiling a list of people who were trying out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team on Saturday that he had barely gotten any sleep the previous night and as a result he wasn't paying any attention to what Slughorn was saying. He had his dream team all worked out in his head, he'd be the star seeker of course. He wanted Ron as keeper, now he was more confident he would hopefully play to his full potential in every game rather than just occasionally. He hoped to have Ginny as one of his chasers, the key chaser likely, she was one of the best after all. As for the other 2 chasers and the beaters, well he would have quite liked some new talent, he had heard that the mysterious Gryffindor girl Isabelle wanted to try her hand at being a chaser and he knew that Seamus was pretty into Quidditch too.<p>

"Potter, are you daydreaming about Quidditch?"

Draco Malfoy's voice broke Harry's daze and he shook his head to get the image away, he turned slightly to Draco who looked amused, "Uh, yeah, how did you know that?"

Draco sniggered, "You had a look on your face that indicates the thought of either Quidditch or extremely unclothed ridiculously attractive women."

Harry's face flushed and he felt rather hot all of a sudden, "Right, so, um, what potion are we supposed to be making today?"

Draco smirked and replied, "It's called an 'Alternis Mundi' potion." He informed Harry, "When you drink it, you are shown how your life would be different if you had made one decision differently. Slughorn told us not to try and sneak any out because it can drive a person insane seeing what would be different but knowing they can't change it."

That made Harry a little contemplative, truthfully if he could make one decision differently he didn't know what it would be, he had messed up more than once in his short lifetime, he didn't really know what he classed as his biggest mistake or misjudgement. He supposed it would have to be what happened in 5th year, he wouldn't have believed Voldemort and gone to the ministry and Sirius wouldn't have died. What would have been different if his Godfather had lived? Would he have perished in the final battle anyway? Or would he still be here today, would Harry be living with him in Grimmauld place? These were all silly questions as he knew there was no way to bring Sirius back. Again Harry had been daydreaming and hadn't noticed Draco brewing both his potion and Harry's. The loud crash of Ron dropping all of his potion implements on the floor made him jerk suddenly and the unfinished potion spilled all over Draco and himself. The last thing Harry heard was Slughorn yelling anxiously and then a large white flash blinded him and forced him to shut his eyes.

When the light appeared to have dimmed Harry opened his eyes and looked to Draco who was now standing on his left, the Slytherin looked utterly bewildered and Harry didn't entirely blame him as he looked around at his surroundings. They were still in Hogwarts, in the very classroom they had been in before but it was empty and wrecked, cauldrons were lying upturned with old potions going off on the floors as they had clearly been spilled and not cleared up.

"What the hell just happened?" Harry asked cautiously as he stood glued to the spot in the middle of the room.

Draco had a small frown on his face, "I have a hunch but I hope it's wrong."

"Why?" Harry asked cautiously as he stepped out of the classroom into the deserted corridor. Draco followed and said to his Gryffindor friend, "The potion wasn't finished so I'm wondering if this could be some alternate world we're stuck in."

Harry gulped, he was thinking about Sirius and his 'what if' as the potion had spilled, Draco noticed the look on his face and his eyes narrowed at the boy who lived, "Potter." He said slowly, sounding very like Severus Snape, "What did you do?"

Harry bit his lip, "I was thinking about my 'what if' when the potion spilled." He admitted to the Slytherin who groaned and began to walk along the dungeon corridor, "May I be so bold as to ask what your 'what if' was?" He asked.

"I was wondering how things would be different if my Godfather hadn't died in 5th year." Harry said to his new friend and for some reason he was slightly embarrassed to admit that, even with the conversation he and Draco had had once had about how Severus's death had affected the Slytherin boy.

"Well, I'd say there is a high chance that this is some distorted reality that your imagination has thought up about your Godfather, so this could be...interesting." Draco said, looking slightly amused, a little exasperated and frankly, worried.

Harry trailed along behind Draco as they made their way along the corridor, he wasn't sure what to expect in this version of Hogwarts, he had a strange feeling about this place. The two of them were silent as they made their way along the corridor and then suddenly a muffled noise stopped them in their tracks as they got to the last corridor in the maze of the dungeon corridors that led to the entrance hall.

"What was that?" Harry whispered as he stopped in his tracks, looking at Draco with wide scared eyes.

This only caused the Slytherin to raise his eyebrows, "You defeated Voldemort and you wet your pants at the sound of one little noise, seriously?"

Harry glared at Draco, "I'm not scared!" He said indignantly and Draco just sniggered as another muffled noise came from their left.

"It's coming from that cupboard." Harry whispered as he pointed to the broom closet at the end of the corridor.

"Well, open it then." Draco said, raising an eyebrow at Harry, "To prove that you aren't scared of course."

Harry shot the cunning Slytherin git another glare and edged closer to the closet just in time to hear a muffled scream, worrying that someone was being hurt in there he blasted the door open with his wand and his jaw dropped as he found his two best friends in a rather comprising situation.

"Ron! Hermione!" Harry squealed, his voice suddenly 3 pitches higher than usual.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she quickly adjusted herself to a state of full clothing, "Jeez Harry, don't you knock anymore?"

Harry was gaping at his friend in shock, Hermione was wearing a short skirt and a blouse that was made of so little material it could hardly qualify as clothing, what the hell was going on?

Ron smirked at Harry as he adjusted his Gryffindor tie which had previously been wrapped around the back of Hermione's neck, "You could have just joined in." He said with a wink at which Harry felt a little bit sick.

Draco had been hiding a little to the left so Ron and Hermione hadn't noticed him yet, the Slytherin edged closer and it made Harry snap back to reality so that he could speak again, "What the hell is going on? You two, in a broom cupboard, really!"

Hermione looked at him a little oddly and Ron snorted, "Are you forgetting what we found you, Draco and Ginny doing in a broom cupboard just last week?" He asked with a smirk as he and Hermione stepped out of the cupboard, looking a little more dignified, not much, but a little.

Draco looked both amused and scared at the same time at Ron's words, "Oh hey Draco." He said to the Slytherin who merely nodded at this civil treatment, "Hey." He said back.

"So, are you guys on your way to the great hall too then for the big speech?" Hermione asked as the group of 4 continued their walk to the entrance hall. Ron added, "We were on our way but we had a little pit stop." He winked at Hermione who grinned and Harry watched the exchange with complete bemusement.

"Yeah, we were on our way there." Draco said, nudging Harry as if to tell him to play along. The group then entered the entrance hall which was completely wrecked, the stairs were covered in broken glasses and liquids and there were banners hanging at odd angles everywhere, it was complete chaos.

"Wow, what happened here?" Harry asked as his eyes widened at the sight.

"You don't remember?" Ron asked with a chuckle, "We threw a wicked party down here last night, you and that Slytherin girl were getting right into it, you were downing a shot a minute."

"What Slytherin girl?" Draco and Harry asked at the same time and Ron replied, "The hot one, what's her name Mione?"

"Daphne." Hermione replied easily, causing Draco to glare at Harry, apparently he had a thing for his fellow Slytherin. Harry merely mouthed 'alternate world' as they walked into the great hall to an even more shocking site.

It was more of a wreck than the entrance hall had been. The tables weren't quite upturned but obviously there had recently been a huge party in here as well, instead of sitting at tables all the students were standing on them as they waited for this big announcement. As the group entered the hall Ron raised his voice, "OI. CHOSEN ONE COMING THROUGH, MOVE IT."

The group parted like the red sea and Harry and Draco followed Ron through the throng in amusement, occasionally when someone wouldn't move the redhead would make a comment like 'This dude saved the Wizarding world, the least you could do is move your arse' and very quickly the group were at the front of the hall.

Ron sighed, "Ah, I love being best mates with the chosen one." He said as he winked at Harry.

Harry was both smug, amused and exasperated at his 'alternate' best friend; he was more like his twin brothers in this reality.

Harry then looked up to the front of the hall where to his surprise Sirius Black sat in the Headteachers seat, could it be? No way. There was no way in any universe that anyone would let Sirius Black prune the minds of young people. Yet it appeared to be so, but he wasn't clad in the headmaster's robes, instead he was lounging on his large, comfortable seat, looking rather like a King. He was clearly back to his old charming self in a pair of tight trousers and a very loose and low cut top, who in their right mind had done this to Hogwarts? Who in their right mind would have thought this was a good idea? The answer was no one, but then again Dumbledore wasn't in his right mind.

Sirius stood up and looked to be more than a little drunk as he swayed momentarily and tried to gain his balance, Harry used this moment to sweep his eyes along the table at the other teachers, it was total madness. Trelawney was swigging from a bottle of vodka, which to be honest, wasn't too far from the truth, but everyone else was as out of character as they could possibly be. McGonagall and Sinistra were both muttering to each as they lounged back in their seats smoking, they both usually had their hair in tight buns but it was now let loose and disturbingly they were both wearing rather tight fitting outfits, a little disgusted Harry moved his eyes along a little. Hagrid didn't look much different, except he appeared to be hungover and had his head in his plate as he snored. Next to Sirius was Remus Lupin who was watching his drunken friend (or lover as Harry had often assumed) in amusement and exasperation.

"So, to begin my speech-" Sirius began, then frowned and looked around the table, "Uh, does anyone know where Splitwick and Frout are?" He asked.

At that moment a loud cackle came from the door to the right of the great hall and it opened revealing Professors Flitwick and Sprout, the two of them were laughing extremely loudly and supporting each other as they stumbled into the room. No one apart from Harry and Draco seemed to be surprised by this.

"Look!" Flitwick shouted, pointing to an empty spot at the table, "A purple unicorn!" Sprout said as she tried to run toward it and ended up running headfirst into a wall then sliding down into a crumpled pile on the floor. Flitwick laughed hysterically and Sirius asked, "Are you drunk?"

Flitwick continued to laugh as he replied, "No, meadhaster, of course not!" He giggled like a woman as he approached his seat at the table, then sat down and pulled out a bottle of whisky.

Raising an eyebrow Sirius asked, "Are you sure?"

"My word is my bond!" Flitwick replied as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he face planted onto the head table.

Turning back to the students who were giggling at the scene they had just witnessed, Sirius said, "Now, my speech, yes!"

Remus rolled his eyes and stood up , "What the headmaster is trying to say is-"

Sirius gave Remus a reprimanding look, "Darling, I know what I'm trying to say, sit down."

Remus looked told off and with a small nod took his seat again.

"Now, students of Bogwarts. Today is a very exciting day as it is the day I introduce a new tradition to our fine school. The tradition of...TGI FRIDAYS!"

"YAY!" was the general echo throughout the great hall.

"What the hell are TGI Fridays?" Harry muttered to Draco who gave him a look as if to say 'seriously?'

"God Potter, don't you have a social life." He muttered back, "It means 'Thank God it's Friday' It means Friday nights have free alcohol and parties with no rules whatsoever, I want to stay in this version of Hogwarts forever."

Harry's eyes widened, "No way, this is horrible, we have to get back. Everything here is so wrong; there are no rules and no order."

"Exactly." Draco said, "Isn't it beautiful?" He grinned, so apparently the guy he was stuck here with loved it, brilliant.

"So Harry, up for a wild one tonight?" Ron asked, "I hear Daphne wants to see you again after last night, pretty sure she said something about a conversation with your snake." He sniggered, "Didn't I tell you that you can't use that chat up line anymore, the 'do you want to talk to my snake' one, you're not a parselmouth now, it's a rip off."

"Ron." Harry said, slowly but patiently, "What the hell is going on here?"

Ron and Hermione exchanged a look, "Harry." Hermione sighed, "Are you really hungover or did you get so drunk you cast a memory charm on yourself again?"

"Again?" Harry asked in exasperation and Hermione sighed again, this time in amusement, "Oh, Harry what are you like." She smiled and turned to Ron who was laughing at the scene.

"So up for it tonight? With Daphne?" Ron asked again and Harry was well aware of the glares he was currently receiving from Draco.

"Oh yeah, totally." Harry said, bursting with fake confidence, "I'd love to do that again, she's nice."

"Good call." Ron said with agreement and Draco kicked Harry in the leg, "What?" He asked innocently, "I thought you liked it here." Harry grinned as he turned away from the fuming Slytherin, "So when's this party?" he asked Ron.

The redhead grinned, "Kicks off at 7 right here in the great hall."

"Awesome." Harry said, playing the memory charm thing to his advantage, "Hey, my memory is a bit hazy though, I reckon your right with that charm, I really do need to calm it down sometimes. Can you give me a play by play of whose who here then?"

Draco saw that Harry was fishing for information and had to admit that he had gone about it pretty cleverly, it definitely fooled Ron and Hermione who just seemed amused at their best friend who they didn't know was from an alternate world.

"Right, so you've got your hippies." Ron said, pointing to about half of the students at the Hufflepuff table who were all smoking something or kissing somebody, "They're always high or having sex, usually both at the same time, but they are a good laugh."

"Then you've got your geeks." Hermione said, her finger in the direction of the Ravenclaw table who had their faces buried in textbooks or glasses on and hair in pigtails, but even they looked like slightly rebellious geeks.

"And there are your emos and Goths over there." Ron said, pointing to the Slytherin table where a group of students were wearing black all over and glaring at the hippies.

He then pointed to the rest of the Slytherins, "And then there are your posh totties over there, they sort all the alcohol out, they're never sober and they're always up for a good time." Hermione said and Ron raised an eyebrow at her, "You'd known all about that wouldn't you?" He said, looking between her and Draco. Draco grinned at this, Hermione Granger had gotten hot in the transition between her leaving in 6th year and coming back for the 8th year, he would definitely not complain about that one.

"Yeah well, they are pretty charming too." Hermione said with a wink at Draco who smirked back, now he was the one getting glared at by Harry.

"And then you have us." Ron said rather proudly, pointing to the general area full of red uniforms, the Gryffindors he clearly meant, "We like to think of ourselves as the party animals, we throw some damn good parties, you don't always remember them but when you do." He whistled, "A Gryffindor party is always a night to remember, eh Draco, remember that last one?"

"No, I don't actually, must have been a good one." Draco said as he tried to play along.

"That's a pity." Ron said, "You ended up going back to the common with both the Patil twins."

Draco whistled and nodded his agreement, "Does sound like a damn good night."

"Psst. Harry."

Harry turned around to see his Godfather very loudly trying to get his attention, he motioned for Harry to go over and join him just as Draco, Ron and Hermione began to walk away to set up this party of theirs, the 3 of them chatting away like good friends.

"Draco!" Harry whispered loudly, "You can't leave me alone!"

"Stop being so desperate Harry, I'll see you later in the common room." Draco said as he continued to walk away.

"No, Draco, you can't leave me here!" Harry said desperately but the Slytherin was already gone. With nothing else to do Harry walked over to Sirius who gave him a pat on the back, "Well done for that party last night, it was great fun. Even old Moony enjoyed it, told you it would be a good idea to invite Draco." He winked at Harry who was horrified but then amused, he HAD to tell Draco about that one, then he wouldn't like it here so much.

"Um yeah, it was a wicked night." Harry said, "Theres another one tonight, kicking off at 7, should be a right laugh."

"Up for it Moony?" Sirius asked the man sitting next to him who shook his head.

"Transformation tonight Sirius." Remus explained and Sirius grinned, "I'll skip tonight too then Harry, after all Remus is only wild one night a month." He winked at Remus who said 'Rawr' in a very dry tone but it was obvious he was amused by Sirius's behaviour.

Feeling slightly disturbed Harry made an excuse to leave and hurried off to the common room to find Draco, at the moment he was the only piece of reality he had and that piece of reality was falling in love with this screwed up, but admittedly rather awesome Hogwarts.

Harry was halfway up the staircase when he realised he wouldn't have the password if the common room had a portrait in this reality, not a magic door and stopped momentarily. As he did so two girls appeared behind him.

"Hey Harry." They echoed in unison. Harry spun around, almost relieved to see Ginny and Daphne Greengrass.

In his reality he had no particular inclinations towards his female Slytherin friend, he could fight them rather easily but he wouldn't deny that he found her extremely attractive. However in this reality both Daphne and Ginny were clad in skin tight skirts with the same minimal clothing policy that Hermione had and he wasn't finding it quite so easy to maintain control.

"We were actually just looking for you." Ginny said to her 'boyfriend' although that didn't really seem to mean much here.

"Um, what, you were, oh right, looking for me, okay. Um, why?" Harry asked, more than a little distracted by their current attire.

"You know why silly." Daphne said, causing Harry to be startled by her flirtatious tone.

"The room of requirement meeting." Ginny said with a devious smirk, "You agreed last night and didn't show, did you chicken out?"

"Oh, no of course not." Harry said, not entirely sure what they were talking about.

Daphne grabbed his hand, "Well come on then chosen one, lets get to it."

Suddenly Harry realised what was happening and for some reason his logical mind said 'screw it, you're in an alternate world anyway' so he allowed himself to be pulled along to the room of requirement by the two girls, a quick glance at a clock on the way told him it was about 5.30 so they had plenty of time before the party, Harry wondered what on Earth they had planned for him.

* * *

><p>When Harry was eventually on route to the party it was just before 7pm and he had Daphne on one arm and Ginny on the other as they walked into the entrance hall from the marble staircase. At the same time Hermione and Draco walked in from the dungeon corridor, Hermione was giggling and looking rather radiant. No way, Harry thought, Draco wouldn't have done that, would he?<p>

The two groups met just before walking into the entrance hall and Draco and Harry immediately shot glares at each other at this moment without Daphne, Ginny or Hermione noticing.

As the groups entered the hall they encountered Ron who asked, "Where the bloody hell have you guys been? You all vanished; me and Nev had to do the whole thing ourselves."

At that moment Neville, clearly drunk or under the influence of something flew above their heads yelling 'weeeeeeeeeeee' with an enchanted pumpkin on his head. The group ignored this as the 3 girls echoed simultaneously, "We were busy."

Ron gave them all a suggestive look and said, "Well never mind, alcohol that way, have fun!" and so the party began. The group dispersed and Draco and Harry cornered each other.

"What did you do?" They both asked at the same time.

"Oh, I just had a bit of fun in the room of requirement with Ginny and your lovely crush Daphne." Harry said far too smugly but oh well, alternate world and all.

"Yeah, well I just had a lot of fun with your best friend in Severus's old office." Draco said with an equal air of smugness and the two 'friends' marched off in different directions, both ultimately ending up at opposite ends of the alcohol table.

The start of the night went by in a blur of attractive girls throwing themselves at the two boys who didn't mind a bit of course. Eventually they ended up in the same corner with Sadie Cauldwell, Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass.

"You know." Sadie said, "You guys are like totally-"

"The hottest guys-" Tracey added.

"At this school." Daphne finished and although they were trying to be against each other in a battle of who could be the sexiest in the alternate world the two of them shared a smug grin, both thinking, why couldn't their Hogwarts be like this?

The rest of the night passed in a very drunken and enjoyable haze of girls, talk of Quidditch and a lot of firewhisky. Harry couldn't remember anything as he tried to open his eyes after playing Wizarding truth or dares with that group, but when he eventually managed to open his eyes, the first thing he noticed, apart from how hungover he was, was the fact that he was not alone in his bed, in fact he was with three other people, the three Slytherin girls from the night before, his first thought was 'wow' and his second, 'why the hell don't I remember last night?'

Similarly in the room next door Draco had yawned and stretched only to realise he was not alone in his bed either, a little scared he opened his eyes a tiny amount and saw a flash of red hair, opening his eyes fully he scanned the bed to realise he was sharing it with Ginny, Hermione and to his surprise, the slightly insane Ravenclaw girl, Luna. Draco grinned, well it was good to know he hadn't lost it, he was still the Slytherin sex god, "This is awesome." He murmured as he shut his eyes and went back to sleep.

A few hours later Draco and Harry met on route to the Great Hall, "I love it here." They both said at the time and relayed their nights to each other. Draco merely gave Harry a little glare at his Slytherin girl story but Harry full out yelled "You slept with my girlfriend?" when Draco told him his story, the Slytherin rolled his eyes, "It's just an alternate world Potter" he said with a grin.

"I hate you." Harry groaned and added, "We need to get back to our own world you know."

"No, I think we should stay here, I like it." Draco said and Harry knew he had no intentions of wanting to leave just yet, but Harry had one last card that he could play and he decided to play it.

"You know, it's not all fun and girls Draco." Harry said, "Sirius told me one story about alternate you that you definitely won't like."

Not so smug now Draco had stopped in his tracks and looked cautious, "Go on..." He said.

Harry tried not to appear as smirking or amused as he said, "Well, Sirius told me you had a fun night with him and Remus."

Draco didn't say anything for a moment, he stood glued to the spot with wide terrified eyes, "I feel sick."

Harry sniggered under his breath, "Well everyone always said the Blacks were inbred, guess we have proof now."

"Harry." Draco said in a very small voice.

"Yes Draco?" Harry said, in the sweetest and kindest voice he could muster.

"Can we go home now?" Draco asked, looking pale and frankly terrified, to be honest Harry didn't blame the guy.

"Of course we can Draco." Harry said, feeling like he had won until something hit him and he suddenly felt worried, "Um, Draco, how do we get home exactly?"

"Uh..." The Slytherin didn't seem to have any idea and the pair now had a bigger problem on their hands.

"I've got a plan!" Draco said and Harry followed him as he ran up staircases and along corrirdors, eventually Harry realised they were on route to the Headmasters office, but he still had no idea what Draco was planning. They reached the gargoyle and it asked for a password causing Draco to curse under his breath and ask Harry, "What would he make the password?"

Harry thought for a moment of cheesy, sappy nicknames Sirius could have for Remus. After trying wolfy and Remy-poo Harry eventually got it right with 'Fuzzball.' Draco looked disturbed but made his way into the empty office with Harry following hot on his heels.

The office was a mess and there was werewolf and dog hair everywhere, Harry decided he didn't want to know. The portraits on the walls were all snoring with empty whisky, brandy and vodka bottles in their hands; apparently they had enjoyed last night's party too. Harry looked again to Draco and saw he was looking at Severus's portrait, it was only then he realised what Draco was doing.

Harry snickered as he noticed that the portrait had been drawn on with a quill that had a permanent sticking charm attached to it so that it had a moustache and glasses, Harry expected that had been Sirius's work.

Draco was now talking to the portrait, "I don't envy you being stuck here, some of the things you must see..." He trailed off and portrait Severus said, "Yes, interestingly enough I saw you up here involved in these things you speak of two nights ago." Draco flushed bright red, "Whatever, can you help us?"

"What with this time?" Portrait Severus drawled.

"Well, we're actually from an alternate world. Pothead over here-"

"Hey!"

"Well, it was your fault-"

"I thought you said you liked it here!"

"I hate to break up this lovers' quarrel but I'm hungover so get to it quick." The portrait said in Severus's usual fed up tone of voice.

"Yeah, well like I was saying." Draco continued with a glare at Harry, "We were brewing the 'what if' potion, it was unfinished and we ended up here but we need to get back to our own reality and we need your help to do that."

"Simple." Severus drawled, "You just need to brew the potion again, but make sure its properly brewed and both think about the same thing, going back to the universe you know. Now, I'm going to bed." The portrait potions master said as he left his frame.

Draco and Harry shared a look then bolted down to the empty potions classroom. Once they had a book with the instruction, a clean cauldron and all the ingredients set out, they began to brew their potion. At first they didn't speak.

"This could be awkward when we go back to our universe." Draco said and Harry nodded his agreement, "Maybe a little." He agreed, "You have a thing for Daphne, right?" He asked.

Draco shrugged, "Maybe." He said cryptically as he threw a salamander's claw into the potion and watched it turn the colour of blue the book said it would. He then held out his hand for the newt's eyeball that Harry had just cleaned.

"Hey, I get it." Harry said as he handed Draco the eyeball and he threw that into the potion too, watching it turn orange, "She's got the whole blonde hair, blue eyes thing, and she's intelligent, why won't you just admit it?"

Draco shrugged as he stirred the potion 6 times counter-clockwise and stood back to admire its pale pink colour, "Because it's confusing, and now we just need to wait 15 minutes then take the potion at the same time and think of home."

"Why is it confusing?" Harry asked stubbornly.

"Because she was best friends with Pansy." Draco admitted with a sigh as he sat down on the bench next to Harry, "She helped me through Pansy's death and she was there for me at the funeral, it would be wrong and unfair to Pansy."

Draco was obviously still extremely troubled about Pansy's death so Harry decided to try and help him in the only way he knew how, "That's not true. Wouldn't Pansy want you to be happy?" He asked, "Fred Weasley is gone and the girl he loved, Angelina, she's with George now and being together is helping them both recover from the loss of someone they both loved. It's not wrong, you can't help who you have feelings for Draco and if I learned anything from the war it's to seize what you can when you have the chance."

Draco was silent for a good few minutes and the two of them sat in a relatively comfortable silence and watched the potion bubble quietly. Draco checked his watch and mumbled, "Just 6 minutes now."

Harry nodded and waited for Draco to speak again, as he thought, the Slytherin did so, "That was really cheesy Potter, but thanks."

"Back to Potter and Malfoy are we?" Harry asked and Draco shrugged, "Old habits die hard." He said simply and again they relapsed into the silence until Draco announced the potion was ready and that it was time to go.

"But, one thing before we do go back." Draco said, and Harry looked at him curiously, "What happened in this alternate world stays in this alternate world."

Harry grinned, "Didn't know you were into Muggle culture." He said in amusement.

"Oh yeah, and tell anyone I said that and you're dead, do we have ourselves a deal?" Draco asked, Harry was only a little scared as he nodded and shook Draco's hand with a Slytherin-like smirk, "We have a deal." He agreed and with that they drank the potion, clicked their heels together and thought of home.

When the two students came too they were lying on the floor of their potions classroom and Slughorn was standing over them with a worried Madam Pomfrey trying to get him out of the way to levitate them onto gurneys.

"What happened?" Harry asked groggily as he opened his eyes, he felt like he'd just travelled via portkey then floo right at the back of each other. Draco was equally as confused, the last thing they both remembered was the potion knocking them out.

Slughorn explained that the potion had probably transported them mentally to an alternate world of some kind although their bodies hadn't moved off the floor of that room, when Draco enquired about why they couldn't remember Slughorn told him that the potion when brewed right had that effect so the drinker didn't go mad with regret.

When the two of them were safely in beds in the hospital wing, after Pomfrey insisted on keeping them under her watch for that, they finally talked about the events or lack of them more like.

"Do you remember anything?" Draco asked the Gryffindor in the bed next to his.

Harry shook his head, "No, but I suppose that's a good thing, we don't know what a wild or crazy world it might have been" he said with a laugh as the doors to the hospital wing opened and Daphne and Ginny walked into the room together, the sight gave Harry some kind of déjà vu that he couldn't quite place.

"Hey love." Harry said with a smile when Ginny sat down on the end of his bed, "Sorry for freaking you out earlier."

Ginny shook her head, "I'm used to it by now, you're never out of here Potter."

Harry grinned, "What can I say, I have a knack for trouble."

Ginny merely smiled her amusement, "You can make it up to me by sneaking me out to Hogsmeade tomorrow night." She said and Harry chuckled, "Deal." He said as the couple sealed it with a kiss.

At the bed next to Harry's, Draco and Daphne were talking quietly.

"Hey Draco." Daphne said with a smile as she leaned against his bed.

"Hey." Draco said softly to the girl who he was sure knew about his feelings for her.

"I'm glad you're alright." She said sincerely and she did look a little worried and pale, like she had been dwelling on this rather a lot.

"Yeah no harm done, except to my ego maybe." Draco said with a smile.

"That will heal." Daphne said with a chuckle, "But on the other hand, you are Draco Malfoy."

Draco gave her a mock glare, "You wound me." He joked and she smiled, "I actually wondered if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade together on Sunday, you know break off from the others a little." Daphne said, she had always been the bold one but never as bold as Pansy who at times had been too much so.

Draco's smiled at the question, "I think that would be great." He said, adding, "But on one condition."

"Sure, I'll bite." Daphne said, still smiling as she waited for his condition.

"You try out as a chaser for the Slytherin team, I've seen you play and-", he lowered his voice, "I need an amazing team to beat Potter this year."

Daphne grinned, "Sure, I like that condition." She said as she straightened up and was back to her flirty and amazingly beautiful self, "See you tomorrow Draco." She called as she floated out of the door, Draco gazed after her so longingly that he didn't notice that Ginny had left too.

Harry's snort brought him back to reality, "You're smitten."

Draco shrugged, his cheeks going a little pink.

"You're not even denying it." Harry said, now extremely amused.

Draco's cheeks now became red and he got a little annoyed with the Gryffindor, his temper was still rather short after all, "Oh shut up Pothead." He said weakly and Harry simply sniggered and went back to his Quidditch book, leaving the love struck Slytherin to mope in peace.

**To be continued! :D**


	9. Not Such a Simple Year

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 9 - Not Such a Simple Year**

"Team tryouts go well Potter?"

Draco Malfoy asked in his usual drawl when Harry walked back into the common room late on Saturday night, he knew the Slytherin already had his team picked out.

"Yeah, they did actually." Harry said, dropping onto the sofa next to Draco, "And I have the best team Gryffindors had in years." He admitted with a grin.

Draco should have under any other circumstance smugly grinned and said Slytherin were better but he didn't, he merely nodded and said, "Well done." It was this reaction that made Harry know that something was up with him, "Are you alright?" He asked with a frown.

Draco nodded; he forced a smile, "Just tired. I'm going to head to bed, night Potter." He stood from the sofa and stalked off to the boys staircase and up to his dorm room.

Harry glanced at the paper on the table. The headline read in bold, "Lovestruck war Hero and Heroine, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger." Underneath the headline was a picture of Ron and Hermione smiling at the cameras as they flashed all around them, but looking closely at the picture he noticed the smile didn't reach Hermione's eyes. Harry sighed, he thought things had been going okay, he thought things were good between Ron and Hermione, but maybe he'd been wrong.

"Harry?" A soft voice made him jump and he turned to see Hermione looking at him tentatively from the bottom of the girl's staircase.

"Hey Hermione." Harry said with a smile as his best friend made her way over to where he sat on the sofa and took Draco's vacated seat. She was wearing her purple silk pyjamas as she curled her feet underneath her and nestled her head into Harry's neck.

"Something's up." Harry stated as he put his arm around her.

"Yeah." Hermione sighed as she closed her eyes, she said no more on the matter but he knew she would, when she was ready. Harry's hand automatically went to her hair and he smiled to himself for a moment as he recalled the many times they had lain like this together in the tent during Ron's absence. It had never been anything more than a strong friendship but it had brought them both comfort then and he imagined it was doing the same for Hermione now.

"Things aren't how I thought they would be." Hermione admitted in a small voice that didn't suit her.

"Are they ever?" Harry asked honestly, "I didn't expect to come back here for another year or even be alive for another year."

"I know." Hermione said softly, "But you're with Ginny the way everyone expected."

"And you're with Ron, like everyone expected." Harry added, he knew Ron was the reason for her sadness, or at least part of the reason.

"But I'm not happy Harry." Hermione said and with a glance he could see the tears sparkling in her eyes, "I expected to be happy with Ron and for you to be happy with Ginny and for us all to be friends."

Harry frowned as he watched Hermione, he was happy with Ginny, and they were friends, he didn't know whether Hermione truly was or wasn't happy with Ron but he could be sure about everything else, "What do you mean?" He asked.

Hermione sighed and sat up to look at her friend, "Things are different this year Harry. You and Ron are drifting apart. I'm not happy with Ron, the flame died very quickly; it was all about passion, not love." She wiped her eyes, "And I don't want to lose our friendship but I can hardly live a lie and things are hard enough for him with you and Draco being best friends."

Harry gaped at Hermione like a goldfish for a moment before he found his voice, "Hermione, Draco and I aren't best friends, Ron has always been my best friend, he knows that." He said, perhaps denying it a little too much, "And if you don't love Ron then you can't string him on, it will hurt him and if he handles it in the same immature way he handles everything else then it's his fault, not yours."

"See." Hermione said quietly, wiping the stray tears that had leaked out of her eyes, "You sound like Draco."

"And since when did you call him Draco?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes at his friend.

"Since I kissed him in the library last night." Hermione admitted in an ashamed whisper as she looked away from Harry. The comment caused a moment of silence until Harry realised what she had said, "Wow, you need to break up with Ron."

"You think I don't know that Harry?" Hermione hissed, but Harry knew her anger was her way of handling her guilt and frustration, "But things might get better, relationships need work, right?"

Harry sighed, "Not after a few weeks Hermione, relationships start to need work after a few months, but you should still be in the honeymoon period and if you aren't...then well I can't tell you what to do but I think you know." He stood up, his head hurt and for once he knew it was just to do with stress and not dark magic.

"I'm going to bed Hermione." Harry said, kissing her on the cheek, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Night Harry." Hermione said as she watched him make his way up the steps to give her a chance to figure out what to do with her life.

* * *

><p>When Harry woke up on Sunday morning he groaned as he remembered the drama occurring around him with the entire DracoHermione/Ron love triangle. He knew it was wrong when Hermione needed him, but he didn't even want to get out of bed to deal with it. He knew that if he was seen to be too much on one side he'd lose a friend, but either way he knew this would tear up the trio. As Harry pulled himself out of bed he supposed he should have seen it coming, they had never really been right together, all the fighting and sexual tension, it was never anything more than that.

Luckily Harry managed to get to the Great Hall without anyone stopping and asking him for advice but once he got to the great hall he saw a particularly dishevelled, not as groomed as usual, Draco Malfoy sitting at the Slytherin table. The blonde met Harry's eye and he could tell he needed to go over and talk to him, as a friend, so ignoring the dirty look Ron gave him he made his way over to the Slytherin table.

"You love her." Harry said casually as he perched on the edge of the bench and grabbed a slice of toast. He had expected Draco to deny it for a while, his voice to go high pitched, maybe even for him to shout or glare at Harry.

"Yeah." Draco said instead, his gaze fixed on Hermione who was trying very hard not to look at him, "But she has someone else."

"You do realise that you should have learned a vital lesson from your Godfather, right?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow causing Draco to turn to the boy and glare at him, "What the hell are you talking about Potter?"

"We're back to Potter, wow you really must be in a foul mood." Harry joked but he could see Draco really wasn't in the mood for joking around, "Severus called my Mother a mudblood and made her hate him which was pretty stupid considering they were in love with each other and if he hadn't done that they would probably have gotten married. Which I know is gross cause it would make me Severus's kid and all but, the moral of the story is, never call your favourite Muggle-born a mudblood, sure as hell way to make her never go out with you."

"Potter, my Father was a death eater; I was brought up to hate everything about her." Draco said bitterly as he pushed his food around his plate.

"Ironic really cause the only thing you hate about her now is the fact she's taken." Harry said as he helped himself to some more toast and said good morning to Blaise on his way into the hall.

"Have I ever told you that I hate you?" Draco asked Harry who just grinned and said, "Not in a while actually. So, who kissed who?"

"You know about that?" Draco asked with wide eyes.

"She's my best friend, course I know. So, who kissed who?" Harry asked again, glancing over to Hermione who was forcing smiles to Ron as she said something to him, she obviously hadn't broken up with him yet.

"I don't know." Draco replied honestly, "We both sort of leaned in at the same time, it was mutual." He said, his cheeks flushing pink.

"I spoke to you a few days ago and you were pretty smitten with Daphne, where did this come from?" Harry asked, completely bewildered.

Draco rolled his eyes, "We're not talking about this here, let's take a walk Potter." He said as he stood up and pulled Harry with him. The Gryffindor raised an eyebrow at his friend as he half dragged him out of the hall, "You could have just asked." He said as he shook free from Draco's grip just outside the oak doors. There was still a chill in the air and the two boys pulled their cloaks around them tighter.

"I did like Daphne, I do like her, but there is something between Hermione and I." Draco said frowning as if he didn't really know what he was saying, "Theres a connection I have with her that I've never had with anyone else, it's always been there and it makes me do crazy stupid things."

Harry laughed, "Yeah, I know the feeling well." He admitted as they came to a stop near the black lake which was partially frozen over.

"You do?" Draco asked hopefully, he wanted answers; he didn't like feeling things he couldn't understand.

Harry nodded, "It's called love Draco." He said with a chuckle, "And it's quite funny really how you tell me this the day after Hermione tells me the spark is gone with Ron and she doesn't love him anymore, if she ever did that is."

"She told you that?" Draco asked sitting down against the oak tree, the same oak tree that Severus had been tortured under, that he'd lost Lily under.

"Yeah, in the common room last night, just after you went to bed." Harry said as he sat down next to Draco on the hard, cold, frosty grass under the tree.

Draco smiled at the news, lost in the memory of the kiss in the library a few days ago, the most amazing kiss of his life, the only connection he'd ever felt with anyone.

* * *

><p>"Is she looking at me?"<p>

"No."

"Theo!"

"What?"

Draco glared at his friend, they had never really been close during their initial Hogwarts years but ever since the return to 8th year and the small number of Slytherins the two had bonded. Draco had been too focused on being 'popular' and living up to the Malfoy name that he had cared about power and chose his friends for that, but now with everything being over and everything being clearer to him he picked his friends based on their personality. Theodore Nott was very similar to Draco but without the pride and the obsession with pureblood, his Father had been an abusive death eater who had died in his 'duty' so in some respect he and Draco had more in common than they'd known before. Draco wished he'd had Theodore in his 6th year, if he had he might have dealt with everything better. Theodore was smug and snarky and really rather funny, he was also incredibly intelligent. The Slytherin was tall, about Draco's height, he was skinny, with the build of a seeker, rather like Potter. When he was younger he had a slightly rat like face but in the last few years that had changed, he had dark black hair which was usually kind of messy but nothing like Potters mop and his eyes were a shocking colour of blue, similar to Dumbledores. He was a bit of a heart throb in the 8th year and he was Draco's closest friend, right now he was fed up with Draco who was stalking Hermione Granger and trying to get Theo to help him.

"You didn't even check Theo." Draco whined to his dark-headed friend from where he sat next to him in the common room.

"I didn't need too." Theo said as he rolled his eyes, "She hasn't been looking the last 18 times you asked me to look."

Draco grumbled, "That's not the point." He said quietly as he looked down at his Transfiguration homework and crossing something out, "Is it possible to transfigure an elephant into a mouse?" He asked sullenly.

"No." Theo said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Draco these questions are practically 4th year level, what is _wrong _with you?" He asked, now worried as Draco jotted down the answer and glanced behind him to where Hermione Granger was sitting on the sofa in front of the fire with Daphne Greengrass, they were talking and Draco really wanted to know what about.

"Oh!" Theo realised, shutting his book and turning around to talk to Draco properly, "You aren't obsessed with her; you want to know what they are talking about." He said triumphantly.

"Well done Theo, it only took you half an hour to figure it out." Draco said dryly as he looked away from the blonde and the brunette.

Being quite the teen heart throb Theo called, "Daph!" and the Slytherin smiled and excused herself to come over to where Theo sat with Draco.

"Yeah?" Daphne asked when she reached their table, she smiled at them both politely but Draco could tell something had changed.

"Do you wanna come to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?" Theo asked smoothly with a wink added in to the mix. Daphne laughed, her blue eyes sparkling, "Why Theo, do you want me to become another of your conquests?" She asked with a grin.

"Only if you want to be one." Theo said in that charming voice of his, he looked at her with a smug grin and Daphne caved, "Yeah, why not." She said with a smirk as she turned and strutted back over to the sofa.

"Theo, what the hell was that?" Draco asked, completely bewildered.

"She knows you like Granger." Theo said casually, "Otherwise she would have shot down my Hogsmeade offer." He opened his book again and started to write something down while Draco gaped at him for a few minutes.

"They're talking about me!" Draco huffed; pouting as he angrily tried to write something and ended up ripping a hole in the parchment.

"So, what you gonna do about it?" Theo asked as he looked up from his homework. Draco sighed and put his head in his hands and groaned, "I don't know. She's dating Weasel King, what can I do?"

"Be her dirty mistress?" Theo joked causing Draco to glare at him distastefully, "Fuck off Theo." He said in annoyance as he stood up and glared angrily at his homework, "I'm going to the Quidditch pitch." He announced to no one in particular because he knew Theo didn't care. With another heavy sigh he grabbed his broom from his dorm and made his way out of the castle to let off some steam.

* * *

><p>"Are you ready for this week's gossip?"<p>

Hermione sighed from her bed, the other girls in her dorm thought she was asleep and she was going to keep it that way. Once a week they gossiped about what was going on in and out of Hogwarts, who liked who, Hermione found it immature, but she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep with them all squawking.

The instigator was of course Lavender and Parvati was just as excited to hear and share. As much as Hermione liked her other two dorm mates she knew they liked gossip as much as the next girl, unless the next girl was Hermione. Tessie was the typical ditzy blonde, she was funny and pretty much everyone liked her, she generally kept herself to herself and didn't really put herself out there. Isabelle was the daughter of a governor of Hogwarts so she thought a lot of herself but once you got passed the rich girl walls she was sweet and intelligent and in a way more a mixture of Slytherin and Ravenclaw than Gryffindor. Isabelle wasn't exactly shy but she _was _rich so she didn't like to partake in tasks that involved dirty work. She had never joined the DA for that reason and when the war had started she and her rich Daddy had fled to their home in Switzerland. Tessie hadn't been a part of the DA either, Hermione had told her about it when it was all beginning, Lavender and Parvati had jumped at the chance but Tessie was never very confident with spells or with herself and she said she'd rather not. Hermione knew Tessie also didn't fight in the war because her parents were Muggles and they had fled the country to America to avoid Voldemorts regime.

"So, anything interesting?" Parvati asked eagerly and apparently Lavender gave something away with her facial expression because all the girls ooh-ed.

"Lots of things this week. Apparently we're getting a new professor, an apprentice professor from Durmstrang." Lavender told them all, this caused another round of 'ooh' and Tessie said, "Oh, Durmstrangs in Norway, Nordic guys are so gorgeous." She sighed and the other girls made noises of agreement.

"In 8th year news, Neville likes Hannah but he's scared to ask her to Hogsmeade, Theo is taking Daphne to Hogsmeade and apparently Dean is taking Tracey!" Parvati told them all causing Isabelle to say, "And I'm going with Terry." Hermione could tell that she was smiling. That was another thing about Isabelle, she was very pretty, she was tall with dark brown hair that had a tint of purple to it, she had brown eyes and the figure every other girl in their year wanted. Hermione knew the two Ravenclaws had liked each other for a long time so she was glad they were finally acting on it.

"I knew he'd ask you soon!" Tessie said happily, "I bet he realised after the final battle he didn't want to lose you."

Isabelle smiled, "I'm just happy something finally seems to be coming of it. Did you know by the way that Mandy is going with that Slytherin 7th year? The one she played Quidditch against a few times?"

"Really? She's going with Maxwell?" Lavender asked in shock, "I thought they couldn't stand each other!"

"They did! But they are in Ancient Runes together and they get on now so it seems." Isabelle informed them with a laugh.

"Wow, any other 8th year hook-ups?"

"Not that I know of but there could be a few 8th year break-ups on the horizon." Parvati said which immediately got all of their attention again. Parvati continued, "Well Ron and Hermione haven't been as lovey dovey as usual lately." She said, aware they were hanging on to her every word, "And Hermione's been spending a long time in the library late at night. Last week she snuck in after midnight!"

"Oh!" Lavender piped up, "Do you think she's meeting someone?"

"But who?" Tessie asked with a frown, Hermione was now listening intently and didn't dare to crack an eye open and glance at them.

"Well assuming it's an 8th year there aren't many it could be, a lot of them are attached." Isabelle said, pointing out the obvious to the excited gossip girls.

"Well theres Seamus."

"Yeah but Lavs got her eye on him." Parvati injected with a smirk to her friend who blushed, "Oh be quiet, he hasn't even asked me to Hogsmeade."

"Yet!" The girls echoed and Lavenders blush deepened, she giggled and continued, "Theres also Blaise."

"Not for much longer." Tessie said with a shy smile, "He asked me to Hogsmeade this weekend, we sit next to each other in Arithmancy."

"He's hot Tess!" Lavender said, glad the attention was off of her, Tessie grinned, "I know, right?" She said sounding happy, again Hermione smiled slightly, Tessie hadn't really had the confidence to date before 8th year so she was happy for her.

"Well theres still Michael, Ernie and Justin." Isabelle speculated, "But I don't think any of them are her type."

"Not to mention Ernie and Justin aren't interested in girls." Lavender pointed out with a laugh, "So I doubt it would be either of them."

"But then who..." Parvati began to say but she trailed off as she and Lavender linked eyes and made the connection, "Malfoy!"

"Oh my god, she's meeting Malfoy!" Lavender announced, "That makes so much sense." Parvati agreed, "I thought he kept looking at Daphne but he was actually looking at Hermione."

Hermione wanted to cry, they had figured it out which meant it would be in the rumour mill soon. This was make or break time, she either broke up with Ron before he heard the rumour or she let him hear it, tell him it was a lie and stay in an unhappy relationship.

As the girls gossiped some more Hermione lay in bed for hours and hours, she knew she wouldn't sleep tonight. She had a difficult decision to make and she had no idea what to do.

TBC


	10. New Friends, New Places, Big Changes

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 10 - New Friends, New Places, Big Changes**

_A/N: Okay so I know my whole 'this is a canon fic' thing failed. So I feel I should explain, basically I don't like canon, I don't like Harry with Ginny or Ron with Hermione but I decided to give a canon fic a go. At the end of the day I just can't write it because I find it boring so with this fic staying canon I can't continue it so I figured either delete it or change it to make it more interesting for myself and hence write more so I chose the latter. The basis of the story is the same but it's more about house unity now than R/Hr & H/G. The couples are looking to be more like Harry/Daphne and Draco/Hermione. BUT what I will say is that you've followed the story thus far and you don't like the way I'm taking it then I completely understand if you stop reading because nobody (including me) anticipated it to turn out the way it's turning out at the moment. Sorry for anyone that is leaving the story at this point and hello to anyone new who these non-canon couples appeal to!_

_Peace out, _

_Holly _

* * *

><p>"Potter, don't even come near me with that thing"<p>

"Draco, he's not a thing."

"Yes he is, Potter, stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Stop coming closer."

"I need to go to the toilet, take him."

"No! Get it away from me."

Harry glared at the Slytherin as he handed the baby to him and watched in amusement as Draco's nose crinkled, "Ew." He said, holding the baby as it was something dirty and disgusting.

"He's just a baby." Harry said with an amused look as Draco held Teddy Lupin at arm's length, "He's harmless."

"I don't like small humans." Draco said distastefully as Teddy giggled and his hair turned blue, he then tried to grab Draco's hair to which Draco responded, "Don't touch the hair multi-coloured child!"

Harry rolled his eyes and made his way to the staircase leading to the dormitories, "Have fun." He called making Draco panic, "What? No! Potter, don't leave me! Come back Potter!"

But Harry was already gone, Draco cursed loudly and looked around the empty common room but there was no one there, everyone was already at Hogsmeade. What was he going to do now with this thing Potter had landed him with?

* * *

><p>It was the first Hogsmeade weekend and while Harry &amp; Draco were inside the almost empty castle everyone else was making the most of it. Dean and Tracey both being pranksters had headed straight for Zonko's with the promise of a warm butterbeer in the three broomsticks later. Isabelle and Tessie had teamed up and had planned a double date to Madame Puddifoots, an idea that didn't wash down so well with Terry and Blaise. One being a proud pureblood Slytherin and the other a DA member who had fought for all that was good and righteous in the war. However the two boys really liked their respective dates so they decided to grin and bear it with a HarryDraco style truce.

Neville was a little shy about his first date with Hannah but he found as they walked down to the village together talking about plants, spells and anything under the sun that he felt extremely comfortable with her. Hannah was very pretty, she was slim with long blonde hair which was almost poker straight and she had blue eyes. On this particular day she was wearing jeans, furry snow boots and a heavy winter cloak. Neville had matured greatly since his childhood days and was taller than Harry now; he'd lost his puppy fat and was less of a geek and more of a heart-throb since he'd lost his stumbling stuttering ways during the war.

It helped that Neville and Hannah already knew each other, they'd spent a lot of time in the room of requirement the year before when they'd be fighting Snape's regime and waiting for Harry to come back to them, and they'd fought together in the battle of Hogwarts. The date went well as the 'couple' stopped by Honeydukes to stock up on chocolate and it was when Neville was leading Hannah to their secret date destination that he decided to make one more stop.

"Hannah, do you want to see Aberforth?" Neville asked suddenly as he came to a stop outside the Hogs Head.

Hannah smiled, "I thought you might want too." She said, looking a little sheepish as she delved into her bag and pulled something out, "That's why I brought this."

Neville frowned as she showed him a box, she opened it to reveal a box of 6 hand baked cup cakes, he chuckled, "He'll like that."

Hannah's smile widened, "I hoped so. It took me so long to get the house elves to let me make them myself; they looked like they might explode." She told Neville and they both laughed as they made their way into the dingy little pub.

The pair immediately saw Aberforth who was standing behind the bar cleaning glasses, they approached him with smiles, "Good to see you again Abe." Neville said with a grin as the old man looked up at the pair of them. He smiled back, "Hello Neville, Hannah." He said, pouring them a drink and sliding it over to them, "On the house." He said as the two students thanked him.

"So you went back to Hogwarts did you?" Aberforth asked, sitting down behind the bar to talk to them.

Neville nodded, "I want to be an Auror so I need the grades." He explained, Aberforth nodded, looking impressed but not surprised, "An Auror eh, like your parents." He stated, Neville just nodded, the war had made him realise how much he did want to take after his parents.

"And what about you Hannah?" Aberforth asked Neville's blonde-haired companion. The Hufflepuff smiled and shook her head, "Not for me, I've had enough fighting for a lifetime. I do want to go to Wizarding Med College though and I need an outstanding in all my N.E.W.T's to get in."

"I'm sure you'll manage." Aberforth said with full confidence in her, Hannah smiled broadly but blushed a little at the compliment. Neville smiled to himself at the motion, he thought it was cute.

"Hannah made you a small gift to thank you for everything you did for us during the war." Neville said, looking pointedly at Hannah who handed Aberforth the box of cupcakes, "There are some with lemon icing and some with strawberry." She said, hoping he would like them. The younger Dumbledore opened the box and smiled, he looked away for a moment and turned to them with gratitude in his eyes, "Thank you, it means a lot." He admitted to the two happy students, they were glad they could do something to thank him even if it was only something small like baking him some cupcakes.

* * *

><p>Harry had gone upstairs and locked the boy's staircase so that Draco couldn't get up, maybe he'd been a little wicked leaving Teddy with Draco but he knew that Draco was able to look after the baby no matter how much he pretended he didn't know how too. Andromeda and Harry weren't extremely close but as she was Teddy's Grandmother and he was his Godfather they had a fair bit of interaction. Harry tried to see Teddy at least once a week. On occasion they had talked about this and that and Harry had learned that Narcissa and Lucius were divorcing and that Andromeda and Narcissa had reconciled and had gotten back the bond they had as children, the one Bellatrix had broken. He also found out that since Andromeda worked at the Ministry 3 days a week someone had to watch Teddy when she was at work and that person was Narcissa her sister. What had surprised him the most was that apparently Narcissa's son Draco was very good with Teddy and sometimes babysat him when Narcissa and Andromeda went out together for lunches or dinners.<p>

So whatever Draco said about babies and Teddy Harry knew he was lying to protect his 'bad boy' image, he had a soft spot for Teddy and Harry had something he really needed to do. He'd been landed babysitting duty because Andromeda was out of the country for work and Narcissa was finalising divorce papers at the ministry so there had been no one else to watch the little boy. Harry had planned to not go to Hogsmeade at the weekend; he was going to use the quiet time to write some letters regarding the fact Severus Snape didn't have a portrait in the Headmasters office. Harry's aim was to do whatever he could to get one there for Severus was a true Headmaster of Hogwarts and a good man.

As soon as Draco realised that Harry had locked the staircase he groaned, Harry obviously knew that he'd babysat Teddy before or he wouldn't have just wondered off and let him with the little boy. Teddy Lupin was now 5 months old and very small and cute, he couldn't do much apart from make noises and lie on the floor waving his hands and feet in the air but that made him easy to babysit. Teddy had a bit more control over his hair now, when he was sad it flashed blue, when he wanted something it flashed red, when he was content it flashed pink or yellow. It made him the perfect baby to look after because from the colour of his hair Draco could tell when he had a dirty nappy, when he was hungry, when he was tired and so on.

When Harry left the room Teddy started to grumble and from a glance at the clock Draco guessed it was time for his midday bottle of milk. Once Draco found the bag Harry had for Teddy it was easy enough to charm the bottle to mix itself and sit down on the sofa in front of the fire and place it in the little boy's mouth. As Teddy happily sucked on the bottle Draco looked into the fire and became lost in thought. Since the kiss in the library which had been over a week ago he'd barely talked to Hermione. It had been late on Friday night when he'd kissed her and he'd brooded pretty much all of Saturday then on Monday he'd told Potter about it and on Tuesday he'd spotted Daphne and Hermione talking about him in the common room. They'd talked briefly in the common room when they were in a group of people but they hadn't had a chance to talk alone yet, Ron always seemed to be around Hermione, it was like he was glued to her. Hermione seemed to be a bit shorter with him than usual which pleased Draco but Ron didn't seem to notice and if he did he didn't seem to be massively worried about it.

Draco sighed as he cleaned Teddy up after he'd finished his bottle and started to pat his back gently to burp him, he really did like babies, he'd considered a job as a Healer working specifically with kids but he'd changed his mind. He knew there was a slim chance but if there was _any _chance at all that he could get into the programme what Draco really wanted to do after Hogwarts was to enter Auror training.

The brooding Slytherin was pulled from his thoughts when the door to the common room swung open and Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood walked in. Ginny looked at the sight before her in shock and then laughed, "Draco Malfoy I never thought I would say it, but don't you look cute with a baby."

Draco's cheeks flushed pink, "Shut up she-Weasel, you're boyfriend gave me the kid then locked himself up in the dorm room."

Ginny sighed, "So he's locked himself up there?"

"Yep." Draco said dryly as Teddy changed his hair to ginger when Ginny walked over and said, "Hello Teddy" in a ridiculous baby voice, "Well I guess he's not coming to Hogsmeade then, see you later Malfoy." She said as she left the common room. Luna, who had changed a fair bit since he'd last saw her smiled at him, "It is a pretty sight you know." She said and then she left. Luna was still a bit loopy but she looked less like a hippy now, her hair was shorter and today she had been wearing jeans and a winter cloak, no radish earrings or dresses shaped like plums.

Draco groaned to himself as he realised this was going to get around; he'd lose the title 'Slytherin sex God' to 'Baby whisperer.' He glared at the small baby on his chest, "This is all your fault Rainbow boy." He whined, "Draco Malfoy, baby whisperer doesn't have the same ring as Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Sex God." Teddy just looked at him with a smile and giggled, Draco's heart melted a little and he cursed, "Damn you Potter!"

* * *

><p>"Neville, where <em>are <em>we going?" Hannah asked in amusement as Neville led her up a mountain path, they had been walking up it for 10 minutes now and Neville was glad he had told Hannah to wear warm clothes.

The Gryffindor smiled at the Hufflepuff next to him, he knew she was fit because he saw her jogging at ridiculous hours of the morning around the Hogwarts grounds so she wasn't struggling to keep up, "You'll find out soon." He promised, "We're nearly there."

Hannah rolled her eyes at Neville's enthusiasm, they walked a little further up the hill and then the snow began to fall from the grey skies overhead. It had snowed the last few days so the village was white and the path was a little slippery in places but they had both managed to make it without a fall so far.

"Okay." Neville said as he stopped and turned to her, "We're here." He said as they reached what was almost the top of the large hill because it could hardly be called a mountain compared to the huge rugged mountains in the backdrop.

"Where is here?" Hannah asked in amusement but Neville only grinned and pulled her into a small cave, inside there were all different types of plants growing on the damp walls and while Hannah moved closer to examine them Neville expertly waved his wand and set up a picnic in the middle of the cave.

Hannah grinned at him as he cast charms to make the roof of the cave invisible so they could see the rain falling over the picturesque village below them, "Oh Neville, this is so sweet." She said as she sat down next to him on the blanket. Neville smiled broadly, happy she liked his date plan, he offered her a bottle of butterbeer and she happily accepted as she leaned back against the Gryffindor to enjoy the winters day view.

"So Hannah, do you wanna be my girlfriend yet?" Neville asked causing the blonde Hufflepuff to turn to look at him in surprise, he smirked as she blushed furiously and took a few minutes to compose herself, "You're asking me out?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yeah." Neville said as if this was obvious, "Why is that so hard to believe?" He asked with a laugh, "I've fancied you for ages."

Hannah blushed again and said, "Well I mean you and Harry are the Gryffindor heart throbs, all the girls want to be with you and you are this amazing war Hero and you're so strong and brave and I'm just me."

Neville shook his head in disbelief, "Hannah, I'm not a war Hero, I killed a snake big deal and I don't care about being a heart throb, I really don't. I haven't changed just because I did one brave thing in the war, I'm still Neville Longbottom, the guy who gets lifted up to the ceiling by pixies and gets stuck in the vanishing step." He said making Hannah smile, Neville smiled back and continued, "And you are amazing, you took down more death eaters than I could count in the final battle, you saved Lavender from Greyback and you have the best knowledge of magical plants than anyone else I know, you aren't just you."

When Neville's speech finished Hannah bit her lip and asked, "Can I kiss you now?"

Smiling Neville replied, "Please do."

And she did.

* * *

><p>"You know I don't actually like you, right?" Daphne Greengrass asked Theo Nott across their table in the Three Broomsticks.<p>

"I note that you say that after I buy you a butterbeer." Theo joked with an amused smile, but Daphne just rolled her eyes, "I only said yes to piss Draco off."

"I know." Theo said with an eye roll, "What do you take me for Daphne? Some sort of Hufflepuff? I only asked you to determine whether you knew about Granger and Draco or not."

Daphne snorted, "Of course I knew, I sit next to Granger in Ancient Runes and she told me about it thinking I could help because I know Draco so well." She sighed, "But as long as he's happy I am." She admitted, being the better person.

"He's hardly happy." Theo said as he sipped his butterbeer, "She's still dating Weasley."

"I doubt that relationship will last much longer." Daphne admitted, "According to the rumour mill she's getting sick of him already.

"I don't blame her." Theo said making Daphne laughed, "I know, she's gorgeous and she could have pretty much any guy she wants, I never got why she picked Weasley."

"Oh come on Daph, don't you believe in love?" Theo asked sarcastically and Daphne smacked him on the arm, "Of course I do, can't say I've ever experienced it though."

"Well Daph, you've experienced certain kinds of love." Theo said with a suggestive smirk which earned him another slap and a glare, "Are you saying I'm a whore Theo?" She asked in annoyance.

"No." Theo said honestly, "I'm just saying, you and Draco have had your fun, let Granger get a taste of him." He smirked as Daphne narrowed her eyes at him, "You like Granger, don't you?"

Theo shrugged, "She's nice enough, we usually cross paths in the library, when she's not snogging Malfoy in the restricted section that is." He added, "But I don't want her to become one of my conquests if that's what you mean, you on the other hand though-"

"In your dreams Theo." Daphne said in amusement at her womanising friend, he only grinned, "Worth a shot."

"So, apart from the fact that Draco wants to jump Granger and kill her Weasel boyfriend, what's happening?" Daphne asked as she sipped the butterbeer Theo had bought her.

"Blaise is dating some blonde Gryffindor babe, she is fine but I mean she's a Gryffindor." Theo said, saying the word Gryffindor as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.

"They aren't all bad you know and maybe we should try and be nicer to them with this whole house unity thing that McGonagall keeps talking about." Daphne said, adding, "After all as of next week she's giving us our own 8th year table."

Theo made a face, "Doesn't mean I want to bang any of the Griffins." He said simply, vulgar, crude and cocky, but that was Theo for you, "Would you do any of them?" He asked and Daphne laughed at the question.

"Longbottom may be a war Hero now but he still got stuck outside the common room for an hour last week because he couldn't figure out the answer to 'Whenever you take one you leave more behind' which was obviously-"

"Footsteps." Theo said at the same time as her, laughing at the fact Neville couldn't figure out something so easy. He wasn't stupid; he just didn't have great logic or common sense sometimes.

"And I wouldn't touch Weasel with a 12 inch pole, house unity or no house unity." Daphne added, making a face, "The other two, ones an Irish slob and the other is dating Tracey."

"Yeah, I can't believe she went Gryffindor." Theo said shaking his head, "I'm ashamed of her." Daphne rolled her eyes, "Oh hush will you, she's happy enough with him. You know out of all the Gryffindors Potter is the only one I'd even consider."

Theo grinned, "Oh, do you want a piece of the chosen one Daph?" He asked suggestively, "They must call him the chosen one for a reason."

"Oh shut up." Daphne said slapping him for the third time but he didn't seem to mind as he chuckled as Daphne's 'confession'.

"Anyway, if you tell anyone, I'll let slip your secret crush on Sadie." Daphne countered with a smug grin at the groan that escaped him at her comment.

"Oh come on Daph, low blow." Theo said, shaking his head mockingly at her.

"Seriously Theo, I know she's the only want you want to date rather than conquer, why don't you just ask her?" Daphne asked and it was clear from the tone of frustration that this wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation.

"Because I don't want to mess things up with her." Theo said, flailing for an excuse but Daphne saw right through him, "You're a coward." She said as she finished her butterbeer and put her jacket on.

Theo looked up at her with a smirk and Daphne immediately thought, 'oh crap.'

"Fine, I'll make you a deal." Theo said, he was the typical cunning, scheming Slytherin.

"You're on." Daphne said as she stood to leave.

"I'll tell Sadie I like her if you screw Potter." Theo said with a grin that caused Daphne to glare at him, "Fuck you Theo." She said in annoyance as she turned to leave.

"You can if you want, but I thought you'd rather have Potter!" Theo called after her and she flicked a finger at him before walking out of the pub into the mild snowstorm outside. Theo chuckled to himself as he watched her go.

* * *

><p>When Luna had asked Ginny if it was okay to meet up with Colin Creevey in Hogsmeade the Gryffindor had to admit that she was surprised. Luna told her friend that Colin had asked her to Hogsmeade and she told him she'd already made plans but Ginny said she'd be happy enough for the 3 of them to meet up for a drink in the Three Broomsticks. Ginny knew Colin and Luna had become friends during the war but she hadn't realised how close they were, apparently Colin was interested in photographing rare animals and she had seen the two of them pouring over old issues of the Quibbler in the Room of Requirement when they'd all been hiding from Snape.<p>

Luna and Ginny had wandered around Hogsmeade for a while before eventually taking cover from the blizzard in the crowded Three Broomsticks. Colin was already there and he waved them over to the small table for four he'd nabbed in the corner of the room.

"Hey Luna, hey Ginny." Colin said brightly, he'd changed a fair bit since his days of stalking Harry. Colin had gotten taller and thinner after losing his puppy fat, he had short blonde hair which had brightened over the years and his blue eyes were still always darting about excitedly. He kept his camera around his neck as he always had.

"Hey Colin." The girls greeted the boy as they sat down at the table, "Do you want butterbeer?" He asked and when they said yes he hurried off to the bar to fetch them 3 butterbeers.

"You like him Luna." Ginny said quietly to her blonde friend when Colin was gone.

Luna only smiled back, "He's very sweet." She said as she watched him from across the room, she looked back to Ginny, "And he wants to photograph the famous Scottish kelpie, I'd love to speak to it, do you know kelpies sing in Gaelic?"

"Uh, no I didn't." Ginny said with a frown, Luna was unique and while Ginny wouldn't change that she still wished she was here with Harry. Everyone else was coupled up on this cold Hogsmeade weekend, but Harry had chosen to stay in Hogwarts with Draco, it just didn't make any sense.

"Do you think Colin will ask you out?" Ginny asked as she checked that he wasn't on his way back to the table. Luna merely smiled, "I hope so, I'd like that very much." Ginny couldn't help but smile, she did think that the two strange 7th years would work together because of their oddness and she was glad that Luna seemed to be so happy. Colin returned with their butterbeers and for a little while the trio talked about classes.

"What do you think of Lucius Malfoy teaching DADA?" Colin had asked the two girls.

"I don't know what to think about it." Ginny admitted, "I know he was vouched for but he still did terrible things, it's hypocritical him teaching us how to defend ourselves against the dark arts when he represents them."

"But everyone deserves a 2nd chance Ginny." Luna said dreamily and Colin nodded, smiling at the Ravenclaw girl, "I agree with Luna, I know he did terrible things but at least he's trying to redeem himself and make his mistakes right."

"I guess." Ginny said but the other two didn't hear her because they had become too engrossed in the conversation. Ginny sighed and excused herself to the bathroom, she felt like such a third wheel. As Ginny fixed her hair and her make-up in the bathroom mirror she realised she'd have to talk to Harry soon about what was going on with him, she had hoped everything would be okay now that the war was over but he still seemed to be holding on to it all. They'd kissed since they'd reconciled but nothing more had happened and they had been dating for 2 months now, added on to how long they had dated before the war. Whenever Ginny brought up the subject Harry pushed it aside and changed the subject, she was wondering what she was doing wrong. Ginny took a deep breath and made her way out of the bathroom, she was on her way back to the table when she saw that Luna and Colin were extremely close, she didn't want to break up the moment so she looked around for anyone else she knew, seeing no one she glanced back to Luna and Colin who were now kissing. Ginny just shook her head and left the pub, she doubted they would even notice.

When she was out in the blizzard Ginny was ready to head back up to Hogwarts when someone called, "Hey! Not a good idea! They're saying stay inside until the weather calms down."

Ginny frowned and turned at the voice, she thought she recognised it. The person speaking was doing so from the doorway of the old backhouse to the Three Broomsticks which was no longer in use. Ginny hurried toward him and into the room out of the cold blizzard. It wasn't until she pulled her hood down and saw the person's face that she realised who it was.

"Michael! Hey!" Ginny said in surprise as she sat down on a pillow in the busy room full of students trapped indoors until the weather calmed down.

"Ginny!" Michael said, just as surprised, he obviously hadn't recognised her either, "Wow, it's been a while since we talked."

Ginny laughed, "I know right! How have you been?"

Michael smiled, "Great actually, wow, we have so much to catch up on." He said as he sat down next to her.

Indeed they did.

_**TBC **_


	11. I Guess It's Gonna Break Me Down

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 11 – I Guess It's Gonna Break Me Down**

_A/N: This is set like in the middle of the last chapter. Ron & Hermione fight & Ron gets back to Hogwarts before the Blizzard is bad enough to keep everyone inside. _

* * *

><p>When they'd gotten to Hogsmeade Hermione had suggested to Ron that they go for a walk up by the Shrieking Shack. She used the excuse that she wanted to see it again with a new perspective but truthfully she just wanted to get somewhere quiet so she could talk to Ron. The couple had gone into Honeydukes and Ron was chewing on sweets as they walked to the old 'haunted' shack. He had been talking to Hermione for the last 15 minutes about how the Chudley Cannons were doing in the league and apparently he hadn't noticed how quiet Hermione had been during the entire walk. She was keeping up appearances by holding his hand but even that didn't feel right, their relationship had been a big passionate affair but once that died down, for Hermione that was all it was. It was then she realised how little she actually had in common with Ron, she cherished the conversations she and Draco had in the library. It didn't matter that they talked for hours about potions and new groundbreaking spell techniques; the point was that she <em>couldn't <em>talk to Ron about that because he didn't care and he wasn't intelligent enough to understand. In Draco she had someone whose intelligence equalled and even rivalled hers. In all honesty she and Ron never had much to talk about anymore, Hermione didn't care about the latest Quidditch fixtures or how many times Seamus farted in Transfiguration. The war had caused Hermione to grow up but Ron hadn't, he was still that immature kid he'd been when they met and Hermione needed more than that. She needed an adult, someone who could be there for her, who she could have intellectual conversations with, who she could relate too, who she could see a future with, someone like Draco.

When they eventually got to the shack Hermione couldn't take Ron's Quidditch talk anymore. She stopped in her tracks and lost her temper, "Ron! Haven't you noticed that I haven't said a word since we left Honeydukes?"

Ron stopped and looked confused, "What?" He asked cluelessly which only made Hermione angrier.

Hermione almost growled with anger, "I don't care about Quidditch teams and who's playing in what games and what the scores are and who did what!" She exclaimed in an outburst of rage, "And I don't care how many times Seamus farted or how many stink bombs Dean let off in the great hall!"

Ron was looking utterly bewildered and Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "We just never have anything important to talk about anymore Ron." She said; her voice softer, "I don't think things are working out between us."

Ron's eyes widened and Hermione felt a tug of guilt in her stomach at the expression of hurt on his face, "You don't?" He asked in a small voice.

Hermione shook her head, "I don't, I'm sorry. I just think maybe we tried to make something out of nothing." She admitted, "Maybe it was just supposed to be a fling, we really don't have much in common."

"I'm sorry you feel that way Mione." Ron said, looking down at the snowy ground as the snow began to fall again, "But I understand, I don't want you to be unhappy."

Hermione gave him a weak smile, "I'm so sorry Ron." She said and she genuinely meant it, she felt like she was losing an amazing friend. He shook his head, "Don't be." He said and he gave her a quick hug before hurrying back down the path towards the village. Hermione breathed in a deep breath when he was out of sight and sat down on the cold, wet snow to let herself cry for the first time since Remus and Tonks's funeral.

* * *

><p>As Ron made his way through the bustling village he didn't want anything more than to curl up in his bed and let himself cry. He really thought he and Hermione were the real deal, together forever, he and Hermione and Harry and Ginny. It was the way things were meant to be, or so he thought.<p>

He'd had an amazing 2 months with her, sure it had been hot and passionate for the first month or so but even after that had all died down he still thought they had a connection but apparently to Hermione that connection was just their friendship. He thought back and probably should have noticed she'd been quieter and a bit withdrawn but she got like that sometimes, maybe if he'd noticed she wouldn't have ended it. Ron sighed as he pulled his hood up and tightened his grip on his jacket as the snow started to fall heavier and people started to take cover in the shops and pubs.

Ron had no intention to do so, right now he just wanted to get back to the comfort of the common room and seek some advice in Harry, he wondered if he knew, if Hermione had told him about the impending break-up and he'd chose to keep it from Ron, but Harry was his best mate, he wouldn't do that, would he?

"I know! I couldn't believe it when I heard either!" The high-pitched voice brought him out of his daze, the Welsh accent was recognisable immediately, it was Megan Jones. Ron glanced ahead to see Megan walking up the path to Hogwarts with Padma and Parvati and they were discussing something that was apparently very exciting.

"I mean the fact she was meeting someone is shocking enough!" Padma said in shock, "She's the Head Girl and she's cheating on her boyfriend, what kind of example does that set."

Ron frowned, what they were saying couldn't be true, his Hermione would never do something like that, but then again she hadn't exactly been herself as of late.

"But the fact its Malfoy is so much worse!" Parvati added, "I mean, when Ron finds out he's going to feel so betrayed, Malfoys the worst person she could cheat on him with!"

That sentence filled Ron with so much rage, he felt sick with the anger, it burned inside him like a horrible hatred, he stormed passed the gossiping girls and made his way into the castle, he was going to kill Draco for this, he'd never forgive him for it. It was bad enough the slimy Slytherin had bullied him and his family throughout their childhood but now this, taking the one person he'd ever fallen in love with away from him. Draco was doing this just to hurt him, he was sure of it.

* * *

><p>Harry was in the middle of a letter to the new Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, about his Snape portrait campaign when he heard the first signs of a commotion in the common room. There had been silence until now but Teddy was crying very loudly and Teddy as a general rule didn't cry like that unless he was sick or scared. Harry panicked and grabbed his wand, unlocking the staircase he hurried down it to find Ronald Weasley screaming his lungs out at Draco Malfoy.<p>

"YOU SICK TWISTED BASTARD! IT WASN'T ENOUGH TO BULLY ME AND BELITTLE ME FOR BEING POOR WAS IT? YOU HAD TO TAKE MY GIRLFRIEND AWAY FROM ME TOO! YOU'RE NEVER GOING NEAR HER AGAIN MALFOY, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Ron's screams of pure rage were getting louder and Teddy was terrified, he had no idea what was going on. Draco glanced at the sofa where his wand lay out of arms reach, he didn't realise Harry was behind him by the entrance to the boys dorms and he was terrified that Ron would hurt Teddy.

The redhead lifted his wand up and swiftly cut it through the air, Draco recognised the spell as a stunning spell and thankfully managed to dodge out the way, place Teddy on the couch and grab his wand. Harry darted forward to stand next to Draco with his wand aiming at his best friend.

"Ron, calm the hell down!" Harry yelled, nowhere near as loud as Ron's screams, "Theres a baby in the room you prick."

"I DON'T CARE WHO IS IN THE ROOM HARRY! HE SCREWED MY GIRLFRIEND!"

"Just shut up Ron, stop acting like such a dick. They kissed once, it happens and killing Draco isn't going to get you Hermione back." Harry said as calmly as he could, trying to keep the situation under control so that Teddy wouldn't get hurt.

"FUCK OFF HARRY! YOU'RE ON HIS SIDE NOW, YOU'RE AS MUCH OF A DEATH EATER AS HE IS! YOU KNEW ALL ABOUT HERMIONE AND HIM AND YOU KEPT IT FROM ME!"

"Ron unless you calm down we're going to have to call McGonagall." Harry said, again trying to keep calm, "You can scream at me and call me whatever you want, it's only going to lose you a friend."

"After EVERYTHING we've been through Harry I can't believe you'd still choose that bastard over me! I saved your life! Maybe I should have just left you to drown in that lake." Ron said, the anger slowly fading but the bitter, harsh, cutting words taking over.

"Well if you had you'd be screwed because Voldemort would have taken over and you'd be dead." Harry said coldly, "Now get the hell out of here until you've calmed down. I don't want you upsetting my Godson anymore." His tone was ice cold and it was with a glare at pure hatred to his supposed best friend that Ron left the common room, slamming the door behind him.

"Ow." The door said, in Albus Dumbledore's voice, "Very well handled Harry." It added causing Harry to smile slightly despite the situation.

"Harry-" Draco began to say but Harry only shook his head, "Not now Draco." He said as he went over to where Teddy was still crying on the couch. Harry picked the baby up and began to rock him until his eyes eventually fluttered shut and his breathing evened out. Harry sighed heavily and sat down on the couch with the baby on his lap. Draco tentatively came around and sat down next to him, "Thank you." He said quietly, "I thought he was going to kill me for a while there."

"So did I." Harry admitted as he winced and placed a hand on his head, "These stress induced migraines are almost as bad as Voldemort induced headaches." He joked weakly but Draco didn't laugh. He was staring at Teddy as though deep in thought.

"It wasn't your fault, like you said the kiss between you and Hermione was mutual and at the end of the day Ron shouldn't have handled it in the way he did. It was immature, but that does seem to be his trademark." Harry remarked in annoyance, "He's my best friend but I can't believe how much of a dick he can be at times."

"I can." Draco muttered ignoring the mock glare Harry sent him, "I'm just glad Teddy's okay." He admitted causing Harry to smile, "I knew you were lying, baby whisperer."

Draco managed his first small smile at the remark, "That's Slytherin Sex God to you, Potter."

"No thanks, you're not my type." Harry joked back causing the Slytherin to smile again, but it faded very quickly, "I hope Hermione's alright." He added looking outside to where there was now a full blown blizzard. He seemed to think a moment and then stood up and grabbed his cloak.

"Uh, Draco, no one is allowed outside, it's too dangerous." Harry told the Slytherin but he had a determined glint in his eyes.

"Well Potter, you told me that love makes you do crazy things." Draco said as he reached the door to the common room.

"I said crazy not suicidal!" Harry called after his friend as he slipped through the door.

"Same thing in the Wizarding world!" Draco called back as the door shut and a voice said, "Ah, love, isn't it wonderful Harry?"

Harry chuckled and shook his head in amusement at Draco's behaviour, "Yeah Albus, it really can be."

* * *

><p>Draco battled his way through the blizzard using protective charms to create a bubble around himself but it only dulled the effect, it didn't completely protect him, he could barely see anything through the swirling snow but he could hear footsteps trudging towards him, they were almost silent as the roaring wind deafened them.<p>

"HERMIONE!" Draco called, squinting through the snow as a figure came into view, as it loomed nearer he saw that it was indeed Hermione and Draco pushed through the blizzard faster to get to her.

"D...D...Draco." Hermione stuttered through blue lips, "W...What are you doing here?" She asked and he noticed her whole body was shaking.

"Saving you." Draco said taking out his wand and casting warming charms on her, he pulled her to his side and cast another bubble charm around them both, "You're crazy for being out in this Granger."

"So are you, Malfoy." Hermione said as her lips began to return to their normal colour and her body started to shake less.

"Hey, I'm saving a damsel in distress." Draco said causing Hermione to laugh a little then frown at the pain it caused her, "Now come on, I'm getting you to the hospital wing." He said as he ushered her into the warmth of the entrance hall.

Hermione was still shivering as she looked up at Draco who had snow flecked through his hair and was soaked through from the rain, "Thank you." She said quietly but he only smiled and pulled her in for a hug, "I'm just glad you're okay." He said honestly, closing his eyes and thanking his lucky stars that he hadn't lost her so soon after he'd found her.

TBC


	12. Prince Patriots

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 12 - Prince Patriots**

_A/N: Hope the twist isn't too horrible & that some people are still reading this fic!_

* * *

><p>The Monday morning after the fight on Sunday night was awkward. Harry and Ron got up and dressed without saying one word to each other, Harry left first and purely by chance ended up meeting Draco in the common room as he threw some books in his bag.<p>

"Morning." Draco said, looking as though he too had spent most of his time lying awake last night.

"Hey." Harry yawned as he and Draco started to make their way out of the common room and down to the great hall for breakfast.

"Has he spoken to you yet?" Draco asked, feeling as though it was his fault he had broken up the 'golden' trio. Harry just shook his head and they walked on in silence for a moment, aware of Hermione walking a little in front of them with the Slytherin girl that Theo had a crush on, Sadie Cauldwell.

"She'll be okay." Harry said, noticing where Draco's eyes were fixed, "She's feeling guilty for breaking up with Ron, she's confused about how she feels about you and she thinks it's her fault she's broken up the friendship between us all."

Draco didn't say anything back to Harry at first as they exited the tower staircase and were back onto the main school staircase, "You know her really well." He said, out of the blue and Harry just shrugged, glancing at the girl in front of them.

"She's my best friend. I might have met Ron first but Hermione's stuck with me through everything, she's always believed in me even when Ron didn't and even when I had no idea what I was doing she didn't give up on me." Harry said quietly, looking at his feet as he spoke of doubts he'd not spoken about before.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked, slowing down so they could talk before they reached the great hall. Harry appreciated what he was doing and he trusted Draco but it was hard to talk badly about someone who you'd been friends with for such a long time.

"When I didn't come back to school last year, I wasn't hiding, I was hunting horcruxes." Harry stated and Draco nodded, he knew all about that part from his parents and Bellatrix, "We found the first one easily but we didn't know how to destroy it." Harry explained as the duo passed the 4th floor landing, "So to keep it safe we had to take turns wearing it and it brought out the worst in us all. When Ron wore it he was paranoid about Hermione and I, he would complain about how we didn't have a plan and eventually he left." Harry was frowning, now that he had started it was like he couldn't stop talking, "So for a good while it was just Hermione and I in the tent hunting out the horcruxes and we didn't need Ron, we managed fine without him, he was almost a hindrance because he just complained all the time." Draco was listening intently and nodding in all the right places, intrigued by the tale.

Harry sighed and came to a stop in between the 3rd and 4th floor, he pulled Draco behind a tapestry into a small alcove and sat down on the floor, Draco sat down and leaned against the wall opposite Harry.

"While I know that Ron came back it doesn't change the fact that he left in the first place, he may think he redeemed himself by saving my life and I am grateful, but I'll never trust him the same way as I did before." Harry admitted looking as though he felt riddled with guilt, "Truthfully Ron and I have been drifting apart ever since the selfish git left me and Hermione there to get on with it. If he'd really loved her he would have stayed." Harry said, making it clear that it was final and that Ron had made his bed and it was now time for him to lie in it.

"I understand that." Draco said after listening to Harry's tale, "How can you trust someone who left you in a time when you were so vulnerable and buggering off and leaving the woman he supposedly loves with his best friend who he thinks she's involved with, not very romantic is it?"

Harry chuckled and shook his head in amusement at Draco's view on the situation, "No, it isn't and to be entirely truthful Draco I don't think Hermione ever forgave him for it."

"I wouldn't blame her." Draco said as he stood up and helped Harry to his feet, "That must have hurt her a lot."

Harry nodded his agreement as he and Draco continued their descent towards the great hall, "It did, she cried for days after he left. That's why I know Hermione so well, I was the one who comforted her through the time in her life when she was most vulnerable and she's done the same for me over the years, we have barely any secrets from each other."

"Have you ever thought about her as anything more than a close friend?" Draco asked curiously and was surprised when Harry chuckled at the question, "Since you deserve the truth I'll give you it, but it's more complicated than a simple yes or no." He said, elaborating, "When we were alone for months in the tent it would have been so easy to seek comfort in each other but we never did, I love her but not romantically, but not like a sister either." Harry said, confusing the hell out of Draco, "I love her as a friend, she's going to be the Godmother to my kids and she's always going to be in my life, I've always felt that way about Hermione, but never about Ron. He's a high school friend but I don't think that friendship will carry through the rest of my life."

"You're so philosophical Potter." Draco teased and Harry laughed, "I told you it was a complicated answer."

The Gryffindor and the Slytherin had reached the entrance hall and the conversation ceased there, Draco sighed, "Do you know what I hate about the 8th year common room?"

"What?" Harry asked, chuckling at the change of subject. Draco grumbled, "It's so far away from everything!"

* * *

><p>As if the awkward mood between the trio and Draco could be worse at the moment without the fact that today was when the new 8th year table idea was launched by McGonagall. In addition to the 4 school tables there was now a long thin table half the size of the head table at the front of the hall where the 8th year students were to sit to promote house unity. Luckily Harry got to the hall before it was busy so he and Draco sat down at one of the ends opposite Hermione and Sadie. Draco noted that Hermione had red eyes but she still gave him a weak smile when he sat down, Sadie sympathetically had her arm around the Gryffindor girl. When Ron arrived at breakfast 5 minutes later with Dean and Seamus he chose to sit at the other end of the table, Seamus shot Harry and Draco glares and went with him whereas Dean sat down next to Tracey who was sitting on Hermione's other side.<p>

"Morning." He said brightly to his girlfriend as he kissed her on the cheek, "Hey Harry, Draco, I heard what happened yesterday, glad Teds alright."

"Yeah, me too." Harry said as Draco merely nodded his agreement. Just then two things happened Theo approached the table and sat down next to Sadie, something he'd never before done, and an owl flew through the rafters towards the 8th year table.

"Harry, isn't that Hedwig?" Hermione asked with a frown as she looked up at the white snowy owl flying towards them. Harry smiled, "Yeah, but she can't have Kingsleys reply already, I only wrote to him yesterday." Harry said as Hedwig landed gracefully next to Harry's plate, on autopilot Harry took the letter and fed her a bit of bacon. When Harry saw the ministry seal he ripped open the letter very excitedly, only Hermione knew what it was about and she smiled a little at his excitement.

"Oh come on!" Harry said in annoyance after a few seconds reading, the timing was bad because Daphne had just slid in next to him on the bench.

"Am I really that bad Potter?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. Harry blushed the moment he realised his mistake and said, "Oh sorry, no, it wasn't you, it's the letter." He explained awkwardly, pointing to the letter in his hands.

"I was kidding Potter, relax." Daphne said in amusement at how flushed the boy who lived was. Harry cleared his throat and looked back to his letter, why did Daphne make him feel so uncomfortable?

"Whats in the letter that got you so uptight anyway?" Draco asked with narrowed eyes as Harry made another face at the parchment. He sighed, "I wrote to Kinglsey about getting Severus a portrait in the Headmasters office and this was his reply.

"_Dear Mr. Potter _

_I understand your wish for a portrait of Severus Snape to be instated in the Headmasters office at Hogwarts. However there are several issues preventing this event at the current time:_

_- In order to have a portrait placed in the Headmasters office one must serve as Headmaster for one full school year. As Severus Snape did not serve at Hogwarts for a full year he is not considered viable as a portrait candidate._

_- There are rules surrounding the portraits in the Headmasters office. One of which is that the Headmaster must not abandon his post. As Severus Snape abandoned his post as Headmaster before the end of the school year he is not considered viable._

_- Due to the way Severus Snape acted during the Great Wizarding War and the Second Wizarding War many would object to a portrait being erected in his honour. Although we at the Ministry for Magic are now aware of his good deeds and intentions he still took the lives of many whose families are still alive and in mourning._

_I am sorry it was not possible to grant your request at this time Mr. Potter, please try to write again in a few years time._

_Thank you for writing to us._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Kinglsey Shacklebolt,_

_Minister for Magic._

_P.S. The offer of entry into the Auror training is still open if you wish to change your mind. We would be honoured to have you as a member of staff."_

When Harry had finished reading he was positively raging and he wasn't the only one.

"I can't believe that!" Daphne said angrily, "After all he did in the Second Wizarding War! He devoted his life to keeping Potter safe, if it wasn't for him he would have died falling off that broom in 1st year and we would have never won!" When her outburst was over her cheeks were a little pink from her rage.

"You remembered that?" Harry asked in surprise, "Wow, I thought no one remembered that."

"Daphne remembers a lot of things about you Harry." Theo said with a smile from beside Sadie who seemed to know he was up to something.

"I have a good memory Theo." Daphne said easily, not letting on at all, she was a Slytherin so she had a damn good poker face. Theo smirked at her and Daphne only smiled back, "I've never seen you sit by Sadie before Theo."

Theo narrowed his eyes at his scheming friend, "It's a free country, I can sit where I want." He said simply as he helped himself to some bacon and eggs.

Daphne just ignored him and turned back to Harry, "So Potter, what are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked with a frown as he folded the letter and put it away in his cloak pocket.

"You're not just going to give up because one person said no, are you?" Daphne asked as if the thought of doing such a thing was preposterous.

"Well the Minister for Magic said no, there isn't much I can do." Harry said dully, he'd really hoped to get that portrait for Severus.

Daphne rolled her eyes, "Yes you can, you can gain followers and then campaign for it." She said, adding with a grin, "You can count me as in by the way."

Hermione laughed as she pulled some parchment and a quill out of her bag, "It's like the DA all over again." She joked to Harry who grinned, "Shall we call ourselves Severus's Army?" He asked causing the others to laugh.

"How about Prince Patriots?" Draco asked from his spot on the other side of Harry. There was a few seconds silence around the group and then nods of agreement.

"I like it." Hermione said with a smile, "It works." Harry and Daphne nodded their agreement, "Yeah, PP for short." Harry said.

Hermione wrote the name at the top of the paper and asked, "So, whose names am I writing down?"

Harry, Daphne, Draco, Tracey and Sadie all raised their hands. Daphne glared at Theo, "Theo! Why didn't you raise your hand?" She asked.

"What?" Theo asked looking up from his bacon and eggs, "Sorry Daph, this is an amazing breakfast."

Draco and Harry sniggered at Theo as Daphne rolled her eyes, "We're campaigning to get a portrait of Severus in the Headmasters office." She explained, "Are you in?"

"Yeah, whatever." Theo said, going back to his breakfast. Daphne glanced at Hermione and the two of them shared an amused smile at the Slytherin boy. Hermione then wrote down the 6 names and added her own name to the list, "Well that's 7."

"Blaise will probably agree to help." Draco said, glancing around but not seeing the other Slytherin at the table yet.

"I'm not sure about the other Gryffindors, but I think Luna might help." Hermione said, glancing around the table of 8th years, "And some other Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs might help too."

"Okay everyone, try and recruit as many people as you can." Harry said to the group of people and it was then he realised how much things could change. Here he was with Hermione and 5 Slytherins and they were getting on as if they'd been friends for years. He really had been drifting apart from Ron for longer than he'd realised.

* * *

><p>"So, whats our next plan Mr. Potter?" Daphne Greengrass asked Harry with a smirk when she sat down next to him in Transfiguration later that afternoon.<p>

Harry laughed, "I thought you knew." He said with a raised eyebrow, "You seemed to be the one with all the ideas."

"Oh I'm ever so sorry for undermining your authority in front of all your Gryffindorks." Daphne said sarcastically as she took her textbook out of her bag.

"You're like a mixture of Draco and Hermione." Harry said in amusement to the Slytherin who laughed, "I guess I'll take that as a compliment." She said smiling, adding, "And as a matter of fact, I do have an idea. I'll meet you in the library tonight after Slytherin practice training?"

"Sure." Harry said, wondering why he was so easily agreeing to go to the library late with someone who wasn't his girlfriend. He had seen what that had done to Hermione but yet he didn't seem to have any problem meeting up with Daphne late at night.

"So are you still friends with the Weasel after what he did to Granger?" Daphne asked quietly as Ron sat in front of them with Terry.

Harry shook his head, "In his head there are 'sides' in this argument and if it that's the case I'm not on his. He attacked Draco while he was holding my 5 month old Godson." He shook his head in disgust.

"What about She-Weasel? Whose side is she on?" Daphne asked casually as she jotted down the date at the top of her parchment and glanced up at Harry who was now frowning.

He hadn't even thought about Ginny, he hadn't seen her since Saturday at Quidditch training, he hadn't thought about how the break up would affect his relationship with her, "I have no idea." Harry admitted to Daphne, "I haven't even seen her since Saturday."

"Oh." Daphne said, feeling a little awkward. She was thankful for the fact that McGonagall walked into the classroom at that point and demanded silence.

Harry didn't listen much to the start of the lesson; he was too lost in thoughts about Ginny. Things had been different this year, the 8th year students were closer than any other year had been. It was almost as if the 8th year was a house of its own and Harry had lost the closeness he had to the Gryffindors because he wasn't in their common room anymore. Kreacher hadn't found a way to hoodwink the common room and Harry couldn't get into the Gryffindor common room so he didn't see Ginny as much as he had the first time they had dated. As much as anything else Harry had been so busy forming new friendships that he'd almost forgotten Ginny since he had come back to Hogwarts which really wasn't long. After all it was only the 16th of September; it hadn't even been a month yet. He sighed, he'd have to speak to Ginny soon, he hoped she didn't feel like he was neglecting her and their relationship.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day had passed relatively smoothly. In Potions luckily Harry sat with Draco and Hermione sat with Theo. Poor Daphne sat with Ron and halfway through their 1st period Potions class Rons cauldron had mysteriously gone on fire and Daphne had glanced back at Draco, Harry, Hermione and Theo with a wink and a smirk. 2nd period was more troublesome, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville all had pots next to each other in Herbology but Neville had saved them a lot of awkwardness by switching so he was between Ron and the other two. It was in Herbology that Harry and Hermione had the first chance to talk under their breath about how they were going to proceed with Prince Patriots. 3rd period was Divination in which class Harry sat at a table with Ron and Susan but without even asking Trelawney Harry went over to the table on the other side of the room and joined Daphne, Tracey and Sadie. Trelawney had then come in and asked dreamily, "My dear, why has your position in my room changed?"<p>

Harry just made it up as he went along, "I had a vision Professor. In my vision I was sitting at this table and I just had a strong feeling that it would bring me fortune and help me pass this class."

"Oh!" Trelawney gasped, nodding furiously, "Always trust your visions my dear." She then sauntered off to get the crystal balls and the girls giggled.

"Nice one Potter." Tracey said with a grin, Sadie laughed and agreed, "It was a good save."

Harry grinned, "I learned early that as long as you tell her what she wants to hear you'll get an O." The three girls nodded and Daphne said, "Why do you think we took this class? You need 5 O's to get into any good programme, as long as 2 are in your subject area it doesn't matter how insignificant the others are."

Harry agreed with her logic, it was indeed an easy O. Professor Trelawney collected their dream diaries and applauded Harry and Daphne in particular for their incredible inner eyes. "Ah, you will be mauled by nifflers tomorrow my dear." She said, nodding at Harry's prediction, "At least you are prepared." Harry nodded glumly as Tracey, Daphne and Sadie snorted with laughter beside him. He found he was going to enjoy this class quite a lot at his new table.

* * *

><p>"Hey Potter."<p>

Harry turned at the voice and his voice caught in his throat. He had just found one way that Daphne was unlike Hermione, she dressed much more provocatively. When Daphne sauntered into the library just after 10pm she was wearing a fairly short green plaited skirt and an extremely tight top. Harry cleared his throat, crossed his legs and said with a smile, "Hey, how was Quidditch practice?"

"Good." Daphne said, sitting down next to him in the empty library, "Slytherin are taking you down this year." She said with a smug grin.

"In your dreams." Harry said with a smirk, realising only after he'd spoken how flirty he was being with the girl.

Daphne only gave him a suggestive look and said, "So my idea is to come up with a comprehensive document detailing all the reasons Severus deserves to have his portrait in the Headmasters office and get it in the Daily Prophet."

"It's a good plan." Harry said, "But how do we get them to publish it?"

Daphne grinned; she clearly had this all thought out, "This is one battle that we could use Rita Skeeter on our side for."

"Ugh." Harry grumbled, "I hate her."

"Suck it up Potter, you in or not?" Daphne asked, a glint in her eyes that Harry recognised, it was the look Hermione had gotten in her eyes when she had asked him to lead the DA.

"I'm in." Harry said, albeit a little reluctantly, "On one condition." He added causing Daphne to narrow her eyes at him, "Whats the condition?" She asked.

Harry leaned a little closer to her, "That you never wear outfits like that to late night meetings again." He whispered in her ear before standing up and walking out of the library, leaving an amused Daphne in his wake. He knew he'd been more flirtatious with her than he'd wanted to be but there was something about her, she got under his skin in a good way.

What neither Harry nor Daphne knew however was that they weren't as alone as they thought they were in the library, Ginny Weasley had been lurking a few bookcases behind watching the scene, but unfortunately she hadn't managed to get close enough to see what was going on. She never thought Harry would cheat on her but then again she'd never believed that Hermione would cheat on Ron and she had.

Ginny was unsure about a lot of things but there was one thing she was sure about and that was that she needed answers, lots of them.

TBC


	13. Falling Apart, Barely Breathing

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 13 – Falling Apart, Barely Breathing**

It was late on Tuesday night when Ginny Weasley happened to spot her boyfriend out of the window of the Gryffindor common room. They still hadn't spoken since Saturday and Ginny had decided to wait a day or so before confronting Harry about Daphne so she had time to calm down first. After all she wasn't even sure there was anything to be angry about yet, Harry was busy at the moment trying to settle into being back at Hogwarts and in the new united common room, he might come around, at least that's what the optimistic part of her thought.

It was just starting to get dark the cold September night when Ginny saw Harry heading to the Quidditch pitch with his firebolt over his shoulder. She saw it as the perfect chance for them to have a quiet chat so she quickly hurried out of the common room after grabbing a jumper. It was before curfew so she didn't have to sneak her way through the common room but she got held up by people she knew stopping to talk to her. Eventually Ginny reached the doors and walked into the cold night, she shivered, the night was darker now and she felt a little uncomfortable walking through the darkened grounds alone. As she walked she thought about what she would say to Harry, she didn't know how to deal with the confrontation but she guessed being angry and shouting wouldn't help the matter at all. By the time Ginny neared the Quidditch pitch she'd decided to just sit and talk with him and calmly ask him why he was distancing himself and if there was something between him and Daphne.

It was time to get her answers.

* * *

><p>When Harry walked onto the Quidditch pitch he saw Draco right away and laughed at the pickle he'd gotten himself into.<p>

"How the hell did you end up like that?" Harry called as he jumped on his broom and soared over to where Draco was tangled up in a Slytherin tapestry. Draco's broom was hovering in the air next to him as the boy struggled to get out but he was upside down and well and truly stuck.

"Daphne, Tracey and Sadie." Draco said by way of explanation and Harry laughed, he knew that Draco had just had Quidditch practice and that the girls loved to play pranks. Shaking his head Harry untangled Draco who fell gracefully back onto his broom.

"Thanks." Draco said a little grudgingly, probably embarrassed about the situation Harry had found him in. Harry just laughed and flew to the other side of the pitch waiting to release the snitch. They were having a seekers match, the first to the snitch was the winner.

"Ready?" Harry called to Draco whose reply was, "What does the winner get?" With a roll of his eyes Harry shouted back, "If you win I'll let you have a go on my firebolt, I know you want too!"

Draco didn't even bother denying it; he was jealous of Harry's broom, "Deal!" He said and Harry released the snitch. The two boys waited for a minute so the snitch could fly off and then they darted off into the night sky.

* * *

><p>"Are you ready?"<p>

Ron nodded at the Irish man who was hiding in the Quidditch stands with him, "I'm always ready." He joked but Ron wasn't in the mood for a joke. He shot a dark glare at the two seekers flying around the now darkened Quidditch pitch and opened up the box in front of him.

Looking at the bludger in the case Ron felt another surge of anger at the Slytherin who as far as he was concerned, had ruined his life. Ron pointed his wand at the bludger and enchanted it. Instantly the hard ball flew downward and through the stands.

Ron watched anxiously as the bludger neared the stand where Draco was flying, he hoped it did enough damage to make him pay. The bludger had been lurking quietly in the stand so when it burst through the wood and hit Draco's broom he was caught by surprise.

Ron and Seamus grinned at each other as they watched Draco's broom splinter and start to spiral downward rapidly. Ron felt his heart skip a beat when he realised how high Draco had been flying, falling from that height could kill him and then Ron would be a murderer.

"Shit!" He muttered and Seamus seemed to echo this thought because the two Gryffindors simultaneously hurried out of the stands to escape before someone caught them.

"Come on." Ron hissed to Seamus, "Lets detour by the forest; no one will see us in the shadows." Just like that they disappeared into the night.

* * *

><p>Back at the Quidditch Pitch Harry had heard the commotion and spun his broom around just in time to see Draco lose his grip on the broom and start to fall extremely quickly to the ground.<p>

"ARESTO MOMENTUM!"

Harry's spell hit Draco just in time and Harry sped through the air at record speed on his firebolt. He caught Draco about 30 feet from the hard ground and breathed a sigh of relief as the Slytherin grabbed Harry around the waist. After a moment Draco said, "Am I the only one having déjà vu at the moment?"

Harry laughed, albeit slightly of relief and said, "No, I was thinking the exact same thing." Draco, still a little shaken laughed too as they flew toward the ground on Harry's firebolt.

"Well, you got to ride my firebolt." Harry said with a chuckle.

"I didn't think it would be that dramatic." Draco joked as they touched down and got off the broom.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, with genuine concern, as he glanced at the few small cuts on Draco's face.

"Yeah." Draco admitted, wincing a little when he touched his face to feel the damage, "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know." Harry said with a frown as he looked up to where there was a hole in the Hufflepuff stands the size of a bludger, "I think a bludger hit your broom and splintered it."

"Bludgers don't just attack people unless theres a game on." Draco said with a frown as he followed Harry's gaze to the Hufflepuff stands.

"I know." Harry said, putting his broomstick over his shoulder, "And they don't just escape out of their box either, not unless someone opens it and unbuckles them."

Harry and Draco shared a look, "Someone attacked us." Draco realised and Harry nodded; another mystery to solve.

* * *

><p>Ginny had reached the Quidditch pitch at the wrong moment. Because she had needed to grab a coat and get to the Pitch all the way from Gryffindor tower it had taken her some time, especially with Luna and Colin stopping to ask her if she'd seen the rumple-stilted snake baby they were looking for. By the time Ginny reached the pitch she'd missed all the action. When she made her way under the stands and to the field she saw Harry but he wasn't flying alone like she'd thought, he had Draco Malfoy on the back of his broom with his arms around Harry's waist. Ginny frowned and watched for a moment as they laughed and landed on the ground, talking about something that was apparently very amusing.<p>

Feeling disheartened Ginny made her way back up to the castle. Harry's friendship with Draco had been what had started this whole distance thing. It was like he wanted to spend every free minute he had with Draco instead of her. Ginny knew she couldn't talk to Harry about it in front of Draco but she didn't know how to corner him alone, it was ridiculous, she was his girlfriend and she couldn't figure out how to get alone with him.

It was as she made her way back up to Gryffindor tower through the dark gloomy castle that something else twigged in her mind, something about the way Draco and Harry had been acting and she came to the conclusion that there was one person who she really needed to talk too.

* * *

><p>"Was he annoyed when he got into the common room?"<p>

"Not as much as I thought he would be, but I suppose the drama of last night took over."

"It was still funny the way you left him."

"I know, upside down and everything."

"I bet he was so embarrassed when Potter showed up for their seekers match."

"That was the plan."

"Daphne, can I talk to you for a minute please?" Ginny asked, she wasn't shy, she was bold and she had no problem asking the older Slytherin in front of all of her friends. Ginny had managed to catch Daphne on her way to the great hall for breakfast the morning after she'd seen Harry and Draco on the Quidditch pitch together.

Daphne, Tracey and Sadie all stopped when they heard Ginny and turned around to look at the redhead. Daphne smiled and said to the others, "I'll meet you in the great hall." Tracey and Sadie nodded and walked away, still talking about the prank on Draco the night before.

Ginny and Daphne walked in silence to a hidden alcove behind a tapestry of Salazar Slytherin near the entrance to the dungeons.

"What did you want to talk about?" Daphne asked politely and Ginny sighed, "Draco and Harry." She admitted.

"Oh." Daphne said with a frown, "Go on."

"Well, you know Draco better than anyone else here and I just wanted to know how close he and Harry are." Ginny said, glancing at the Slytherin who smiled and said, "They're best friends, they play Quidditch together, do homework together, play jokes on us together." She chuckled, "They do pretty much everything together. Why do you ask?"

Ginny just shook her head and forced a smile, "It doesn't matter." She said, "Thanks Daphne."

"No problem." Daphne said as she and Ginny emerged from the alcove and walked into the great hall together. They said a quick goodbye and walked to their respective tables.

When Harry saw the two girls walk into the great hall together he panicked and poked Draco in the ribs, "Ow! What was that for scarhead?"

Harry shot him a glare, "Shut up you slimy git, Daphne and Ginny just walked into the hall together."

"Ohhh." Draco said, realising why Harry got so anxious, "Well when the girl you like and the other girl you like talk it's not generally a good thing." Draco said getting another glare from Harry, "That's not helping Draco." He hissed.

"I'm just saying!" Draco said, he felt he had a right to defend himself; that was his way of giving Harry advice.

"And I don't like her." Harry added, frowning, "We're just friends."

"That was a bit of a delayed answer." Draco said with a smirk and Harry sent him a glare that rivalled Hermione's, it effectively shut him up.

"Morning Potter." Daphne said as she sat down next to Harry at the table.

"Daphne." Harry said and from the tone of his voice Daphne knew exactly what he was going to ask, "Yes I was talking to your Girlfriend."

"What about?" Harry asked, maybe a bit too quickly. Next to him Draco rolled his eyes and called him pathetic under his breath. Without looking away from Daphne Harry poked Draco in the side again.

"Ow! Quit it Potty!"

Daphne just shook her head in amusement at the two boys, "She was asking me about you two actually." She said as she poured herself some pumpkin juice.

"Us?" Draco and Harry echoed together.

"Yeah." Daphne said with a smile, "She wanted to know how close you are."

"What did you tell her?" The duo asked simultaneously, sharing a look and saying in unison, "That was weird."

Harry cleared his throat and looked back at a highly amused Daphne, "That you two do _everything_ together." She said suggestively.

"Ugh, he's a skinny runt!" Draco said, turning his nose up.

Harry made a face at Draco and said, "You're not exactly buff Malfoy."

"Look at you Pothead you're so bony you make skeletons jealous."

"Yeah well you're so slimy you make the giant squid jealous!"

"Yeah well, your patronus is a stag!"

"A stag is cooler than an eagle!"

"Eagles are birds of prey!"

"Stags are symbols of solitude!"

"Boys!"

Both Harry and Draco stopped arguing and turned to Daphne who was laughing at them, "Children, behave." She joked as the two boys glared at each other and went back to their breakfast.

"Anyway, I didn't think the comment would offend you both that much." Daphne said with a laugh, "You've played Quidditch together for years."

"On different teams." Draco said and Daphne said, "The showers are shared."

Hermione chose that point to jump in with, "Harry doesn't use the showers, he's too self-conscious."

"Mioneee." Harry whined as Draco snorted and burst out laughing, "Scared you won't measure up to everyone else Potter?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hermione smirked, "He definitely doesn't have that problem."

"Hermione!" Draco said in shock, "How would you know?"

Harry was now the one in fits of laughter with Daphne close to joining in. Hermione raised an eyebrow at Draco, "We lived in a tent together for months."

Daphne laughed, "Well we're even." She joked, "Potters seen you, Draco's seen me."

"How?" Harry asked, now the one in shock.

"Co-ed changing at Quidditch." Daphne said as if it was obvious.

"You have co-ed changing in the Slytherin changing rooms!" Harry asked in awe, "I'm so jealous."

"You're such a pervert Potter." Daphne said with a laugh, Harry blushed and shut up after that, he found himself wondering how they'd managed to get into such a strange conversation at breakfast.

* * *

><p>After breakfast the rest of the day passed by slowly. Harry fell asleep in 1st period Divination and when he awoke pretended he'd had a vision.<p>

"I saw a rat come out of the forbidden forest and then a snake followed. The snake ate the rat but it didn't satisfy its hunger and both were scared away by a lion!" Harry said, staring into the distance dramatically.

Trelawney gasped and hurried over to their table, nearly falling over her beads in her haste, she came very close to Harry and said in a loud voice, "You have been betrayed boy! But the person who betrayed you will be betrayed by another and both will be shunned from the path of glory!"

Harry looked over to where the boy who had once been his best friend was watching him and said very loudly, "Yeah, sounds about right to be honest."

2nd period Herbology turned out to be amusing when the plant they were working with started to spray purple puss all over Tracey, Daphne and Sadie. Harry was at the other end of the long table on the opposite side from Theo and Draco but they shared an amused grin that their prank had paid off, it was Draco's payback for the trick the girls had played on him. Theo and Harry had only helped.

After break they had double DADA with Lucius which Draco hated but he was glad to hear his Fathers latest announcement.

"Several parents have written to say that they are unhappy with my presence at the school so the Ministry has asked me to stand down." Lucius told them all and Draco couldn't have looked happier at the news.

"A new Professor will be taking my place as of Monday. He is not fully qualified and is merely a Professor in his last year of training. This includes a year of work placement and Professor Poliakoff has chosen to partake in this placement here at Hogwarts."

Parvati frowned and muttered to Lavender, Tessie and Isabelle, "I recognise that name, do you?" The others frowned and shook their heads but Parvati was sure she had heard the name before.

5th period Potions passed without incident today, no exploding cauldrons, much too some peoples dismay. The potion they were brewing apparently made the drinker have a strong sexual attraction to the maker. Slughorn had explicitly told them they were learning the potion so they could identify its effects if they went into the law enforcement line of work. He had warned them that if anyone used the potion they would be instantly expelled but Harry and Draco were incredibly careful not to get a drop of potion on their skin; that would be so awkward.

6th period charms proved to be the same hell it was every single period. Harry was sitting in-between Parvati and Tessie who seemed to use charms as their gossiping time because every single period they just sat and gossiped about who was dating who and who had broken up with who and what celebrity was dating another celebrity. It made Harry want to blow his own head off. Hermione had an equally frustrating period trying to help Neville perfect his fire creating charm so he didn't set fire to the whole classroom. Draco was in a similar situation to Harry as he was seated between Luna and Padma. As their table was next to Harry's and Padma and Parvati both sat at the ends Padma joined in with the gossip which left Draco to spend the period pretending to listen to Luna talk about how mermaids were misunderstood and how they didn't want to lure sailors to their deaths they just wanted love but no one would love them. Harry sniggered as he heard Draco pretend to be interested, he really ought to show Luna the movie _'The Little Mermaid'_ at some point.

It was after Charms that Harry's day got more complicated because Ginny was waiting outside his classroom when the bell rang.

"Hey." She said, "I have a free afternoon."

Harry smiled, "I've got a free period next." He told her, he knew she wanted something, probably to find out why he hadn't spoken to her in days.

"Can we go to the room of requirement, to talk?" Ginny asked and Harry nodded, he turned to where Draco, Daphne and Hermione were waiting for him, "Just head up to the library without me." He said, adding, "I'm basing my essay on the curse of the ancient mummies by the way if you want to start researching for me."

"You wish Potter." Daphne said as she and the others made their way to the library. Harry turned to Ginny, "Hey." He said a little awkwardly. She smiled weakly and they made their way up to the room of requirement together in complete silence, they just didn't have anything to talk about anymore, they'd both changed so much.

When they reached the 7th floor corridor after what felt like hours Ginny walked back and forth with her eyes shut until a door appeared. Feeling sick to his stomach Harry swallowed hard and followed her into the room. It appeared as a simple room with two chairs facing each other. Ginny walked in and sat down in one and Harry sat opposite her.

"Ginny, there's something we need to talk about." Harry said quietly.

"I know." Ginny said, she didn't sound sad, just determined.

"You do?" Harry asked in surprise, looking up at her.

Ginny nodded and pushed her hair out of her face, "Harry we've been drifting apart slowly ever since we got here. I know you, I can see whats happening." Harry felt incredibly guilty; he had no idea that Ginny had sensed his growing feelings for Daphne.

Ginny continued, "I should have seen it sooner, you're always together and ever since you and him began to get closer you started to see me less."

"Wait." Harry said as he looked at Ginny with a frown, "Him?"

"Draco." Ginny said, frowning too, she thought they'd been on the same track, "You like him, don't you?"

Harry gaped at the redhead for a moment, "No! Ginny, I'm not gay."

"Then...what?" Ginny asked frowning deeply, "What made you change your mind about us?"

Harry sighed, "Lots of things, we don't see each other so much now we have separate common rooms and separate friends. The 8th year is like a house in its own right and when we do see each other it's like we're clutching at straws to find something to talk about."

"You've changed Harry." Ginny said softly, not angrily, not sadly, just softly.

"Yeah, I have." Harry said truthfully, not looking away from Ginny's eyes, "I didn't realise how much until I came back to Hogwarts but the war has changed me Ginny, I'm not the guy that you fell in love with anymore."

Ginny smiled, "I realise that Harry, but that doesn't mean you can't still be my friend."

"Are you sure that's what you want? I thought with everything going on with Ron..." Harry trailed off and Ginny sighed, "Harry, I'm angry at Ron too. I know Hermione broke up with him and she was the one who kissed Draco but Ron shouldn't have acted the way he did, especially in front of Teddy."

"Ginny, I don't think Ron and I will ever come out of this one. I don't think we'll make up." Harry admitted to the Gryffindor girl.

"I thought the same." Ginny said sadly, "It won't be the same Harry, summer without you at the burrow."

It was only then he realised how much he'd miss the Weasleys. Molly and Arthur were like parents to him and he'd miss George, he already missed Fred so much, "I'm going to miss everyone so much." Harry said as he tried not to get emotional.

"You know just because you and Ron aren't friends doesn't mean you can't visit occasionally." Ginny told him, "I understand you won't want to spend Christmas with us or the summer but you can still come around for dinner and you'll still be invited to all the birthday parties and all the weddings."

Harry smiled a slightly watery smile at Ginny, "Thank you Gin." He said gratefully and he hugged the redhead who was now his ex-girlfriend.

"You're always going to be one of my best friends Harry." Ginny said to the dark-haired boy as they stood from their chairs, "I told myself when we started dating that the end of our relationship wouldn't be the end of our friendship, no matter how bad a breakup it was. I'll always be there for you, no matter what."

"You have no idea how much that means to me." Harry told Ginny honestly, hugging her again for good measure and wiping his tears on his sleeve so she wouldn't notice. When Harry pulled back from the hug he smiled at Ginny, "Well, I guess I'll see you around."

"Yeah, I'll see you around." Ginny agreed, smiling back as they left the room of requirement together.

"So, has Draco acted on his feelings for Hermione yet?" Ginny asked as they walked and Harry laughed, feeling at ease with her again, the way he had before they started dating, "No, not since the kiss, he's giving her time to get over the breakup with Ron."

"That makes sense." Ginny said, "But he is completely smitten with her."

"Tell me about it." Harry said as he rolled his eyes, "Last night in the common room he sat and talked to me for about 10 minutes about how her eyes changed colour depending on her emotions."

Ginny laughed at the story, "Wow, well and truly whipped."

"Yeah and they aren't even together yet." Harry said in astonishment. He couldn't believe how strange this was, on the quiet walk to the room of requirement as a couple they had nothing to say to each other. However on the walk back as friends who had just broken up the conversation barely had a break in it. Maybe it was a sign.

"There are a lot of couples at the moment who are from different houses though." Ginny observed, "I mean some aren't too rare like Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws or Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, but there are some Gryffindor and Slytherin couples popping up."

Harry's throat went dry as he said, "Really? How many?"

Ginny didn't seem to notice anything odd, she replied, "Well Draco and Hermione look to be pretty cosy and then theres Dean and Tracey."

"Yeah!" Harry remembered, "That one is weird because it works so well, they're really happy."

"I can see why it works." Ginny said with a smile, she was such a romantic, "Tracey is carefree and fun, she's always playing jokes on people and after being on the run during the war all Dean wants is someone fun and happy."

"Agony Aunt Ginny, Hogwarts best." Harry joked as the two Gryffindors reached the crossroads where they had to go in separate directions to reach their respective common room tower.

"You betcha." Ginny said with a grin, "I'll see you Harry."

"See you." Harry said, smiling as Ginny vanished into the spiral staircase that he knew so well, the staircase that went up to Gryffindor tower.

* * *

><p>"God, this is so boring, why do we have to do this?"<p>

"Because we're the Head Boy and Girl Theo." Hermione said with an eye roll, "It's our responsibility."

"I don't know why McG made me Head Boy." Theo said, shaking his head at the absurd idea, "I hate responsibility."

"It will look good when you apply for a job." Hermione informed him but Theo still continued to grumble, "Patrols are only fun when you bust people having sex and that's only happened once."

"The year is young." Hermione said with a smirk, "I was a prefect, trust me by the end of the year you'll be catching them once a week."

Hermione laughed at Theo's happiness at this, "I can't wait." He said and Hermione smacked him gently on the arm, "You're such a pervert Theo." She said but he only grinned and said, "And proud of it."

Hermione shook her head in amusement at her friend and before she could say anything else they heard footsteps from along the corridor. They both stopped in their tracks and pulled their wands out and waited for the person to round the corner. The Head Boy and Girl held their breath as the footsteps got even nearer and the person walked around the corner.

"STOP!" Theo and Hermione yelled at the same time scaring the girl in her green silk pyjamas. She yelped and dropped the spoon she'd been holding. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed it was just Sadie holding a tub of ice cream.

"What was that for?" Sadie asked with wide eyes as she picked up her spoon and held her ice cream closer to her.

"Sorry." Theo said, he and Hermione had both put their wands away, "We're used to living in a time of war."

Hermione nodded, "We're still a bit jumpy, sorry Sadie."

"It's okay." Sadie said, still a little shaky after the encounter, "I had a mini heart attack though." Hermione laughed and Theo smiled, "You shouldn't be out this late Sadie. Granger, do you mind if I take her back to the common room?"

Hermione glanced at the time and shook her head, "Patrol only has 15 minutes left. I'll check the cupboards along the corridor and head back to the common room."

"Be careful." Sadie said as Theo put an arm around her and began to lead her to the main staircase.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Hermione called back and flicked her wand, "Lumos." She muttered and the tip of her wand glowed once more. Using the light from her wand she continued along the 3rd floor to check the two broom cupboards that were popular with snogging Hufflepuff students. At the end of the corridor there was a door leading into the trophy room where Hermione didn't like to go at night because she found it spooky, the way the reflections made the light look different and the high cylindrical roof. It reminded her of the first time she'd snuck out of bed at Hogwarts and she remembered how scared she had been.

A loud crash came from the trophy room and Hermione sighed, she knew she'd have to go and investigate. She walked softly so the person in the room wouldn't hear her footsteps; she hoped it was just Peeves fooling around. Hermione held her wand up in front of her as she walked into the darkened room, there was no one in sight.

"Colloportus!"

Hermione recognised the voice straight away as the door to the trophy room locked itself from the outside so Hermione couldn't get out. Her breath caught in her throat as the candles along the wall lit and Ron Weasley loomed out of the darkness at her.

"Hello Hermione, I need to talk to you."

_**TBC... DUN DUN DUN!**_


	14. You Think You've Got the Best of Me

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 14 – You Think You've Got the Best of Me**

"Ron, what are you doing?" Hermione asked, moving further away from him the closer he walked to her.

"I just want to talk to you Mione, but your new friends never leave your side, do they?" Ron asked, not even maliciously, just normally which made it all the more twisted.

"They don't do it on purpose." Hermione said, defending her 'new friends' as Ron called them.

"Really?" Ron asked, faking surprise as Hermione hit the wall and couldn't walk back any further. Ron stopped with his face inches from Hermione's and said, "So it was an accident that they set my cauldron on fire was it?"

"I don't know." Hermione said, "Ron, what did you want?"

"I told you I want to talk." Ron repeated.

"About what?" Hermione asked angrily, "I have _nothing _to talk to you about."

"How is it Hermione that everyone makes me out to be the bad guy when you are the one who went behind my back and screwed Malfoy?" Ron asked, the anger seeping into his voice now.

"I didn't screw anyone Ron." Hermione said honestly and calmly, "I kissed him, that was all, it was just a kiss." She took a breath, she wasn't scared of him, "And everyone sees you as the bad guy because you attacked Draco when he was holding a baby, a baby we all love."

"Draco now is he?" Ron asked bitterly, ignoring everything else that Hermione had said, "I bet you all cosy up at the library, you and Draco and Harry and Daphne."

"What are you talking about Ron?" Hermione asked impatiently, getting fed up with his crap.

Hermione hadn't spoken to Harry since lunch because he'd missed dinner as he had to catch up on his essay for DADA and had gone to the kitchens later. Hermione had been out on patrol before he got back to the common room.

"He broke up with my sister today." Ron said, "You and Harry, I see why you get on so well now, you like screwing us Weasleys over."

"This has nothing to do with you being a Weasley Ron, and for your information I didn't know that they had broken up." Hermione said, still acting as this was a calm conversation and the door wasn't locked.

"If you had just understood we could have salvaged a friendship and you wouldn't have lost Harry but you have to take everything too far. You just can't control your temper." Hermione said in annoyance, her glare burnt into him so much she thought it must sting, just a little, to see the person you loved look at you that way.

Ron pushed off the wall using Hermione's arms and pulled his wand out, "You always make me lose my temper Hermione! You just don't know when the hell to shut up!" Hermione drew her wand too and was surprised when Ron didn't immediately disarm her.

Holding her wand and pointing it directly at Ron she decided she'd had enough. "Ron, just get out the way so I can go." She said as he stood blocking the locked door.

"No." Ron said with a wicked laugh, "You aren't going anywhere." He started to perform a spell but Hermione quickly realised he was trying to body bind her, she cast protego and the spell bounced off. Retaliating Hermione yelled "Confringo!"

The spell worked and Ron was blasted into the door behind him but unfortunately the blow hadn't hit him hard enough to knock him unconscious.

"You're going to pay for that." Ron said, getting to his feet and taking aim once more, but this time Hermione was ready and she wasn't going down without a fight.

* * *

><p>Draco was sneaking through Hogwarts after a late night Quidditch practice on his own. He knew it was well past curfew but it was the Head BoyGirl patrol tonight so he knew he wouldn't bump into any teachers and if he did bump into Hermione or Theo they wouldn't tell him off, much.

The school was dark and quiet as Draco made his way through the corridors by the light of his wand. The portraits along the walls were all asleep and the only sounds were the occasional hoot of an owl or creek. The old draughty castle was freezing and Draco found himself shivering slightly as he made his way along the first floor corridor to use the shortcut to the main staircase.

It was then he heard a strange noise coming from a disused classroom, it sounded like things getting knocked over. Being nosy Draco had to investigate, with his wand held high he pushed the door opened and hurried in, but he quickly realised that the maker of all the noises was only Peeves. He was clattering around throwing things, smashing things, generally making a mess and lots of noise the way Peeves did.

"Peeves!" Draco shouted, getting the poltergeists attention. He heard the voice and stopped throwing things momentarily, "What are you doing?"

"Making a mess I am." Peeves said with a cackle, "Headmistress loves messes." He began to throw things again and Draco wondered if he'd ever get any sense from him. Peeves usually haunted the third floor, the trophy room in particular; he rarely came to the 1st floor unless it was to annoy McGonagall when she was teaching.

"Peeves!" Draco called again, getting him to stop smashing all the ornaments, "Why are you down here on the 1st floor?" Draco asked more specifically, hoping for a specific answer, or as specific as it got from Peeves.

"Peevsies can't get to shiny breakable thingsies." The poltergeist said as he smashed a glass orb against the opposite wall, "Nasty horrible students made something what stops me." Again either in rage or just because he was Peeves, the poltergeist picked up a small ornament and smashed it against the wall cackling as he did so.

"Thanks Peeves." Draco said but he didn't think the poltergeist heard him, he hurried up to the third floor, what Peeves had said could mean anything but Hermione and Theo were on patrol tonight and he had a really bad feeling about what was going on in the trophy room. Maybe it was all the years of being a seeker but Draco could run fast and he reached the trophy room in record time. He knew the doors were locked but Peeves hadn't been able to get in so there must have been some barrier around the room too to stop just anyone from barging in.

"Finite Incantatem!" Draco cast the spell at the barrier and it sparked and collapsed. Taking a deep breath and holding his wand at the ready he cast Alohamora at the door and barged through it.

The sight Draco was met with was Hermione and Ron both with shield charms around them as they tried to shoot various spells around the barriers. The moment Draco walked into the room Ron forgot about Hermione and moved to the Slytherin, "Come to save your damsel in distress?" He asked with a laugh, "Come on then Malfoy; show me what you can do."

"Deprimo!" Draco shouted, missing Ron by inches and hitting the glass case behind him, the spell was close enough however to singe his hair. As Ron got ready to cast back Seamus appeared, almost out of nowhere, Ron had obviously sent him to keep guard outside but as Draco had gotten in he'd done a poor job.

The Irish man started on Hermione, he tried to take her down with stupefy which she blocked easily; Seamus when it came to duelling didn't have a stitch on Hermione. As she duelled him she spent more time watching what was going on in the more interesting duel between Draco and Ron.

Ron had shot boiling water at Draco with Aguamenti but Draco had put up a deflecting shield and the water had gone right back to Ron, he'd hurt himself with his own spell. While he was down Draco attacked, it may be cowardly but it was Slytherin, attack them when they're weak and vulnerable.

Hermione deflected a 1st year level hex from Seamus as she watched him out of the corner of her eye; she was more interested in Draco's safety. The Slytherin raised his wand and shouted, "Relashio!" Sending sparks flying at Ron who only managed to raise a weak shield charm and ended up getting a diluted form of the curse, he stood up with cuts all over his face but with determination still in his eyes.

Getting fed up with Seamus and his petty spells Hermione waved her wand casually and said, "Petrificus Totalus!" Seamus stiffened up like a board and fell to the floor with a bang. She didn't want to get involved but Hermione now turned her full attention to Ron and Draco's duel.

"Crucio!" Ron yelled and as Draco hadn't been expecting it he didn't have the time to conjure up a strong enough shield to protect himself from the unforgivable curse. With wide eyes he fell to the ground and began to writhe in pain.

"Everte Statum!" Hermione screamed as she aimed her wand at Ron and sent him soaring through the air into a glass cabinet. He fell to the ground unconscious and Hermione hurried to Draco who had passed out from the pain. Not even trying to hide her tears Hermione calmed herself enough to wake him up, "Ennervate."

Draco opened his eyes and the first thing he did was groan in pain. Hermione shook her head, "Don't move." She said quietly, her voice breaking. She stood up and healed the wound on Ron's head so he wouldn't bleed out and then cast Incarcerous on them both to bind them so if they woke up they wouldn't get away with this.

"What on _earth _is going on?" A voice asked from the doorway of the room. Hermione turned her tearstained face to the Professor McGonagall.

"Ron and Seamus attacked us Professor." Hermione said her voice still quiet and shaky, "He used Crucio on Draco."

Draco raised his hand, "I'm fine." He lied, wincing in pain as just moving his hand hurt.

"You are not fine Mr. Malfoy you are proud, I'll go and fetch Madam Pomfrey. If they wake up Miss Granger kindly knock them unconscious again." McGonagall said with a look of disgust to the two unconscious Gryffindors. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, "I was so scared I was going to lose you Draco." She admitted as she gently hugged him, she didn't want to hurt him.

"I know." He said softly, and he truly did. He'd been terrified that a spell would go wrong or misfire, he was just glad it was all over.

* * *

><p>Harry was sitting alone in the empty 8th year common room. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, not with everything that had happened today with Ginny so he'd taken to a hobby of his he hadn't acted on in a while. People watching, Marauders style. Harry didn't gossip but he did find it amusing when he spotted Ernie MacMillan and Justin Finch-Fletchely in close proximity to each other in their dorm room, so close in fact that they surely had to be touching. He sniggered as he looked around the castle at all the dots, seeing Filch and Trelawney together at the top of the North tower gave him images that he was sure would torture him for life. He became so immersed in the map that he didn't hear someone else come into the common room from the dormitories.<p>

"Wow, nice map Potter."

Harry jumped and tried to cover the map, "What, no, you can't see this." He said to Daphne who just raised an eyebrow, "Too late, I already have." She was leaning over the back of the sofa and her breath was hot on Harry's neck.

"It's of Hogwarts right?" Daphne asked, intrigued by the map.

"Yeah." Harry replied, looking back at the map, "And it shows every single person in the castle." He told her, "It sees through all disguises."

"Where did you get it?" Daphne asked in amazement.

"It's a family heirloom." Harry explained with a small smile at the thought of it. He, Draco, Daphne and Theo were becoming very much like the Marauders and Hermione was becoming less and less the one trying to stop them and more and more the one helping them.

"Why are Draco and Hermione in the trophy room?" Daphne asked out of the blue and sure enough when Harry followed her eye line he saw it too, right in the centre of the trophy room were two dots labelled Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger and they weren't moving.

"I don't know." Harry said, looking at the time, "But her patrol should have finished half an hour ago." He debated what to do next and said, "Wait here, I need to get something." Without waiting for a response he darted up to his dormitory and with a jolt realised that only Dean and Neville were in it. Had Ron and Seamus attacked Draco and Hermione? Panicking Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak and hurried back to the common room.

"Daphne, this is an invisibility cloak, it's how I never get caught roaming the castle, it can hold us, just, because you aren't that tall but it will be tight." Harry explained quickly, throwing the cloak over them both.

"Wow." Daphne said in amazement as they began to carefully but quickly walk in unison out of the common room, "You have the coolest toys Potter."

"The quirks of being the boy-who-lived." Harry joked as they made their way to a shortcut on the 6th floor that would take them to the corridor outside the trophy room.

"Merlin, Potter it stinks under here." Daphne muttered as she made a face, "Don't you ever wash it?"

"It's not exactly washable material." Harry retorted as they reached the entrance to the 6th floor main corridor.

"I mean, seriously it-"

"Shh!" Harry said, glancing at the map and seeing that Mrs. Norris was around the corner, "It's not soundproof." He said as he rolled his eyes. They waited for a moment while the cat slinked past them into a classroom. It was during the brief pause that Harry realised for the first time that Daphne was once again dressed to kill, kill Harry's willpower that was. This time she had her pyjamas on but they couldn't be described as pyjamas in any way. She had the smallest, tightest pair of black hot pants on and a black spaghetti strap top with the words "Slytherins do it best" emblazoned in emerald green.

"Potter, are you looking at my chest or reading the slogan?" Daphne asked with a suggestive look which made Harry blush, "Shut up and walk." He ordered and with an amused grin she obliged. They walked fairly fast and were nearly at the entrance to the shortcut when all of a sudden Filch rounded the corner with narrowed eyes. He'd obviously heard their footsteps. Harry and Daphne came to an abrupt stop but because of the way they'd been walking Daphne was in front of Harry and their bodies were pressed tightly together.

"Potter, I hope that's your wand in your pocket." Daphne hissed as Filch walked past them and the coast was once again clear. Harry decided to take a different approach to shy and embarrassed this time, he leant forward and whispered, "I keep my wand in my back pocket."

Daphne smirked, "I didn't know you were that easily excitable." She whispered and Harry merely whispered back, "You didn't stick to our deal."

Carefully Daphne twisted around to face him, with a trademark Slytherin smirk she said, "Well I didn't say yes, did I?"

"No." Harry said, aware of Daphne moving closer towards him, "No you didn't." Then and there he forgot about the fact his best friends could be lying dead somewhere because Daphne Greengrass kissed him and Harry had kissed a lot of girls before but none of them kissed like Daphne Greengrass. The kiss was both hot and cold, soft and hard, slow and fast and when Daphne pulled away Harry had to blink a few times and get his bearings again.

"Do you think we should go save Draco and Hermione now?" Daphne asked casually as if the kiss hadn't been totally and utterly mind blowing. Harry nodded, "Uh yeah." He said and they made their way into the shortcut. The rest of the short walk was in silence, but it was comfortable silence, every time Harry glanced at Daphne she had an amused smirk on her face but he didn't have long to dwell on what it meant because they had reached the 3rd floor corridor and they silently edged towards the trophy room.

They both breathed quiet sighs of relief when they realised that both Draco and Hermione were alive and talking.

"You saved my life." Draco said to Hermione, his breath a little short.

"You saved mine." Hermione argued, "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't found me."

"You'd have managed." Draco said with a smile, "After all, you _are _the brightest Witch of your age."

Harry and Daphne shared a smile and Harry whispered, "We should just go, they're fine." Daphne nodded her agreement and the pair started to make their way out of the common room. Daphne wasn't a clumsy person but as there were trophies everywhere getting out under the invisibility cloak wasn't easy. They had just reached the doorway when Daphne's foot caught on the handle of a trophy and she tumbled down, pulling Harry with her, as they slipped the cloak slipped off of them.

"Shit!" Daphne cursed, falling to the floor with Harry falling on top of her.

"Sorry." Harry said with a wince but Daphne was fine. Draco and Hermione were staring at them in shock.

"What are you two doing here?" Hermione asked in bewilderment.

"_We _came to save you two!" Daphne said, adding, "Potter, you're crushing my rib cage." Harry blushed, "Oh, right, sorry." He said, pushing himself off of her and standing up. Daphne pulled herself up too and it was then that Hermione giggled and asked, "Oh my Harry, what _have _you two been up too?"

Harry realised his mistake too late and grabbed the invisibility cloak to cover his modesty as his cheeks turned the colour of beetroot. The moment Draco realised what Hermione and Daphne were laughing at he too burst into hysterical laughter, cracked ribs or not.

"Glad everyone's having a good laugh at my expense." Harry said, glaring at them all as his face got redder by the second.

"Hey, at least everyone's around to laugh." Hermione said as she chuckled one last time and pointed to where Ron and Seamus were still unconscious and bound.

"Does McGonagall know?" Harry asked angrily, but it was hard to take him too seriously considering he didn't have any legs at the moment.

"She does, she's getting help at the moment." Hermione informed her friend, "Draco's too unstable to move."

"What the hell did they do to him?" Daphne asked, her face pinking up with her anger. Draco was one of her best friends after all.

"Ron used crucio on him." Hermione said, she was trying to be calm but the anger ripped through her voice as she remembered seeing Ron's sick pleasure at hurting Draco.

"Bastard." Harry muttered angrily, but Draco shook his head, "It's not a big deal. I had a Death Eater Father remember? I'm used to it."

Daphne glared at him, "I had a Death Eater Father too Draco and you never get used to it, if anything it hurts more every time." Harry placed his hand on the small of her back and although the gesture was small it did seem to calm Daphne down a little.

Before anymore could be said on the matter McGonagall hurried back into the room with several other people. One of the people was Madam Pomfrey who rushed straight over to Draco to attend to his injuries. Flitwick and Filch were also with the Headmistress.

McGonagall frowned, "Potter, Greengrass, why are you here?" She asked the pyjama clad Slytherin and the half invisible Gryffindor.

"We came to save Draco and Hermione." Harry said, "But they were fine when we got here."

"Very well." McGonagall said, turning to Flitwick and Filch, "Escort Mr. Finnigan and Mr. Weasley to the dungeons and call the Ministry. Tell them we need them to send two Aurors as soon as they can."

Flitwick and Filch both nodded. The Charms professor enchanted the bodies to float along behind him and he and the caretaker made their way down to the dungeons.

"Why do you need Aurors Professor?" Harry asked curiously. McGonagall sighed deeply, "I am afraid Mr. Potter that Mr. Weasley has committed a crime punishable by a minimum of 6 months in Azkaban and as he is now of age he is considered to be an adult. This means he will have an adult hearing and an adult sentence."

Harry couldn't believe how stupid Ron had been, what a complete and utter prick. Madam Pomfrey had finished healing what she could of Draco's internal injuries, "Mr. Malfoy is stable enough to be transported to the hospital wing." She informed the Headmistress.

"Can I come with him?" Hermione asked, standing up shakily from the floor and brushing shards of glass off of her robes. Madam Pomfrey looked ready to say no but a look from McGonagall changed her mind.

"This one time Miss. Granger. I think it will be a good idea to check you over." Madam Pomfrey told her as she conjured up a gurney for Draco and led the two students out of the battle scene.

"Potter, Greengrass; return to your dormitories and do not speak of this until an announcement has been made to the rest of the school by me." McGonagall ordered and the two students nodded and made their way back to the shortcut they'd just come through.

Harry flung the invisibility cloak over his shoulder and said to Daphne, "You know I thought an 8th year without Voldemort around would mean a quiet year."

Daphne laughed, "It's Hogwarts; we never have quiet years." She said, adding with a grin, "Especially with me around."

To be honest, Harry couldn't agree more.

**_TBC_**


	15. I'll Stop the World & Melt With You

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 15 – I'll Stop the World & Melt with You**

"You're going to be okay Mr. Malfoy. As the curse was only cast for a few seconds the damage was mainly cosmetic." Madam Pomfrey informed Draco who nodded along as if this was news to him.

"So can I leave?" Draco asked impatiently, he hated the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey replied, "I don't see why not, but take it easy for the next few days." Draco nodded and jumped off of the bed feeling only a small twinge of pain.

"Miss Granger, take this for the shock." Pomfrey told the Gryffindor handing her a small pink potion which she quickly drank and started to feel much calmer and less shaky.

After that they both left the hospital wing, it was after midnight and they were so tired but they knew there was so much unsaid between them. Draco slipped his hand into Hermione's and she squeezed his in return. They walked like that until they reached the main staircase.

"I like you Hermione." Draco admitted out of the blue on the 7th floor landing, "A lot more than I'm supposed to."

Hermione smiled, "I know Draco, I feel the same." She said and this time they had their first real kiss. A kiss without Ron in the back of Hermione's mind. A kiss that she knew wasn't going to screw up anything. It was just a simple kiss and it was perfect.

They spent the rest of the walk to the common room in silence but this time the silence was comfortable.

* * *

><p>The morning after Daphne had kissed him Harry woke up feeling ecstatic and happily got himself dressed and made his way to the common room where he found Draco waiting for him.<p>

"Hey. Shouldn't you be in the hospital wing?" Harry asked, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

"Nope, cosmetic injuries." Draco explained causing Harry to laugh, "Oh your vanity." He joked, noting the small cuts on Draco's face. They would be healed by the end of the day with the cream Madam Pomfrey made.

"What happened last night?" Harry asked with a glance to make sure no one was listening but the answer he got wasn't really what he wanted anyway, "I'm not entirely sure. I was on my way back from the pitch when I saw Peeves on the 1st floor, I asked him why he wasn't in the trophy room and he said a magical barrier was keeping him out. I ran up to the trophy and broke down the barrier and the door and found Hermione in the middle of a duel with Weasley."

Harry shook his head in disbelief, "And then?"

"The second he saw me he left Hermione and started to duel with me instead." Draco said, rolling his eyes, "Stupid, as if he thought he could beat me."

Harry laughed, "Ego aside for the moment Draco, what else happened? How did Seamus get there?"

"Patience, I was getting to that part. Finnigan had obviously been guarding the corridor so when I came in he ran in too and tried to duel Hermione but she took him down in minutes. It was then that Weasley used the Cruciatus curse on me. Hermione hit him with a spell that sent him flying and broke the curse then McGonagall turned up." Draco said, finishing the story just as the pair got to the 3rd floor and both looked along the corridor to the sealed off trophy room.

"I can't believe how stupid he was." Harry said honestly, "He's going to get expelled; he might even go to Azkaban. He used an _unforgiveable _curse."

"Well he never was the brightest fish in the pond, was he?" Draco asked, his tone was bitter but Harry didn't blame him. After all Ron _had _used an unforgiveable curse on him.

"Anyway." Draco said, changing the subject, "Enough about me, what about you and Daphne?"

Harry shrugged, "We kissed last night." He said casually as if this was no big deal. Draco laughed, "So you're her next conquest?" He asked with an amused smirk.

Harry frowned, "What do you mean?" He asked, he'd only heard of Theo having 'conquests.'

"Daphne doesn't do relationships Harry, she does flings." Draco informed him, hoping this wouldn't hurt his feelings.

"Oh." Harry realised slowly, the cogs in his head turning quickly. He smirked, "Well in that case, I can _definitely _get used to this."

Draco chuckled, "I kissed Hermione last night." He admitted to his friend who wasn't at all surprised by the news, "Did you ask her out yet?"

"Not exactly." Draco replied sheepishly, "But I will soon."

"You can be such a coward at times." Harry joked as they reached the entrance hall, "Well, you're the Gryffindor, not me." Draco said with a raised eyebrow as together they walked into the hall for breakfast. Neither Draco nor Harry saw their love interests at breakfast because Daphne, Hermione, Tracey and Sadie were all sitting further up the table, gossiping about something.

* * *

><p>The day after the kiss and the fight turned out to be an interesting one. Harry had Transfiguration first in which he sat with Daphne. He was determined not to let on that he was nervous about this. The Slytherin walked in late, "Morning Potter." She greeted him with.<p>

Turning the tables a little Harry replied, "Morning Greengrass." Daphne merely smirked and at that point McGonagall entered the room and all talking came to a stop. Harry was so busy writing down the title of the lesson that he didn't see Daphne writing a note until she pressed it into his hands. Making sure McGonagall wasn't looking he read it.

'_Quidditch stands tonight at 11?'_

Harry looked up to Daphne who gave him a suggestive look and it was clear what she wanted to do in the Quidditch stands. Trying not to look too eager he jotted down a simple yes and shot her a smirk.

DADA and Charms passed without anything interesting happening, other than the fact that Harry and Hermione first noted in DADA that Ron and Seamus weren't present today, it made them wonder where they were and what their punishments were going to be.

In Divination Trelawney was in a very good mood because at the start of the year like she did every year she had predicted that, "In September one will leave us, in November one will join us and in March one will suffer a terrible injury."

As Ron was missing from the class she was extremely pleased with herself so she let the entire class read tealeaves which was an O.W.L level activity.

Daphne and Harry swapped cups and Harry went first, "Okay, so you have dagger which means beware and cross that means you're going to sacrifice something." Harry said, squinting, "Oh and there's a harp which means you're going to fall in love shortly."

Trelawney was hovering by their table as Harry said, "So, you're going to fall in love, sacrifice something for the one you love and beware because falling in love might hurt."

"Well done!" Trelawney cried, throwing herself at the table and looking at Harry with wide watery eyes, "My boy you are my best student." She told him, and Harry got glares from Parvati, Padma and Lavenders table.

Double Herbology turned out to be amusing. For the exercise they were doing which involved mandrakes they had to go in groups so the long table was replaced by several smaller circular ones. Daphne, Hermione, Tracey and Sadie were in a group together as were Harry, Draco, Theo, Neville and Blaise.

"Alright, everyone put your earmuffs on, very tight; you don't want to pass out. Extract the fluid from the mandrakes using the tools provided but do not hurt them." Sprout informed the N.E.W.T level students who all put their earmuffs on and pulled the mandrakes out of their pots.

About 5 seconds after all the mandrakes had started screaming 4 thuds came from the corner where the boys were working and the girls were trying to hide their hysterics as they watched Harry, Draco, Theo and Blaise faint like girls.

Neville looked around in surprise and said to Hannah, "For once, it wasn't me!"

Last period Potions turned out to be an interesting hour. Due to Ron being absent from class Daphne didn't have someone to work with and Slughorn put her with Draco and Harry. This meant that Draco spent the whole period in between the flirting 'couple.'

"Potter, you aren't doing it right." Daphne said, glancing at what he was doing, "You need to squeeze it harder."

"Stop." Draco said, glaring at them and ignoring Hermione's laughter from a few tables in front. That girl had amazing hearing.

"Knead it more gently Potter."

"Seriously?"

Daphne grinned at Draco who groaned, she was just _trying _to get on his nerves now and it was working very well.

* * *

><p>It was Thursday night which meant two things. 1. The Gryffindor team were training tonight and 2. All the girls used this chance to gossip.<p>

The team was made up of a mixture of 8th years and 7th years. Harry, Neville and Dean were the 8th years that were out of the common room which left Hannah, Tracey and co. to talk about their love lives without their boyfriends over-hearing. Lavender, Parvati, Tessie and Isabelle joined in, as they always did and Daphne listened discreetly from where she was writing up a charms essay.

"I spoke to Ginny earlier today!" Lavender told the group, "And she and Harry aren't together anymore! They broke up yesterday!"

"Who broke up with who?" Parvati asked eagerly.

"She _said _it was mutual but I think Harry broke up with her." Lavender told them all, getting oohs and aahs.

"But why would he do that?" Hannah asked, "I thought they were really happy together." She was as much of a romantic as Ginny at times.

"The latest rumour _I _heard." Piped up Tessie, "Is that he swings the other way."

Daphne grinned as she listened more intently to the girls.

"He _could _be!"

"He hasn't had many serious relationships."

"And did you _know _that _nothing _happened between him and Ginny?" Isabelle asked with a smug smile, "I overheard her talking to Lovegood about it; they didn't have a sex life at all."

"Really?"

"Oh my God!"

Daphne was surprised by the last piece of news but she knew for a fact that Harry wasn't gay and being the devious Slytherin she was, she decided to spice things up a little.

"Well that settles it, he _must _be gay."

Daphne sauntered over to where the girls were gossiping by the fire. Leaning over the couch she said, "Girls, excuse me for interrupting, but I couldn't help overhearing you talking about Potters sexuality."

"Yeah, why Daphne?" Asked Tracey curiously, Daphne hadn't told her two friends about the kiss yet.

Daphne smirked, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but a guy who kisses the way Potter does definitely isn't gay." She stood and made her way up to the dorm rooms, smirking at the shocked and excited group of girls in her wake.

* * *

><p>When Daphne met Harry at the Quidditch Pitch it was clear he'd just had a good training session because he was covered in mud and sweat. He'd obviously gotten some extra flying in when everyone had left because when he saw Daphne he flew down and jumped off his firebolt.<p>

"Hey." He greeted her casually, casting a few charms to clean himself off.

"Hey yourself." Daphne said, smirking, "I just heard some interesting things about you through the rumour mill."

"Really?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, "Well chances are that over half of it's a lot of rubbish."

"Maybe." Daphne agreed, "But, from what I heard your relationship with She-Weasel was sexless."

Harry had been walking towards the changing rooms but he stopped in his tracks at her comment and turned around, "So what if it was?"

Daphne grinned, "You're a virgin Potter."

Now it was Harry's turn to smirk, "Why do you assume I'm a virgin just because I never had sex with Ginny?" He asked, causing Daphne's eyes to widen a little, "So you aren't?"

Harry rolled his eyes, "Daphne, I'm the boy-who-lived; it isn't hard to find a fangirl willing to do _anything_ for Harry Potter."

"You do realise you need to explain now, right?" Daphne said as she and Harry sat down on a bench in the changing rooms. Harry laughed, "Look there was Cho Chang in 5th year, a couple of girls from the Gryffindor Quidditch team and then after the war I disappeared for a while, met a lot of girls, drank a lot of firewhisky. I'm not proud of it."

"It's hot." Daphne said with a glint in her eye that Harry recognised, she practically threw herself at him and gave him one of those kisses that made him wonder where he was when they broke for air. The changing rooms were empty and no one was going to be coming to the Quidditch Pitch this late at night, they could do whatever they wanted, and Harry fully intended to do just that.

* * *

><p>"So you kissed her, again, but you chickened out of asking her out, again."<p>

"I didn't chicken out Theo; I'm just waiting for the opportune moment."

"Just grab her, kiss her and say, Hermione, date me."

"Yeah cause that will work."

"And if she says no tell her she has to because you're Draco Malfoy."

"And that _definitely _won't work."

Theo and Draco were bickering on their way down to the Quidditch Pitch to get in some late night flying. Curfew at Hogwarts was 9pm for 5th to 8th years but no one in 8th year really paid too much attention to it. With the war over the Professors weren't as strict about their patrols because the world was a much safer place now.

"Anyway Theo." Draco said, mounting his broom as they reached the pitch, "You can't lecture me about not asking Hermione out. You haven't even told Sadie you like her yet." He said, knowing it was a low but fair blow and if it made him hurry up and actually do something about the Sadie situation then it was worth it.

Theo mounted his broom and gave Draco a dirty look, "I'll tell her soon, like you said, I'm just waiting for the opportune moment."

Draco laughed at the irony of it all, Theo was such a hypocrite. Theo was also on the Slytherin team, he played as a beater along with Blaise. The three Slytherin chasers were Daphne, Tracey and Sadie, and a 7th year called Maxwell Harper was the keeper. This year they had the strongest team they'd had in years. For once the team was based on skill rather than brute force and ignorance. Draco liked to think of himself as a good Quidditch captain for that reason.

The two boys were about to take off when they heard muffled footsteps behind them and they both turned to see Daphne and Harry doing the walk of shame out of the changing rooms, clearly they were hoping to not be noticed.

Draco and Blaise shared an amused look and both burst into hysterical laughter.

"I wonder what you two have been up too." Draco said with a grin as he flew over to them, Theo followed, still laughing at the sight.

"Shut up Draco." Daphne said, rolling her eyes, "Why are you even here anyway?"

"Flying." Draco said, as if it was obvious.

"Smart ass." Harry muttered with a glare at his friend. Theo chose that moment to join the conversation, "Ah Daph, I know you said he was the only Gryffindor you'd consider but I didn't think you'd actually go there."

The comment reminded Daphne of something and her eyes lit up mischievously, "Remember our deal Theo? You said to me, I'll tell Sadie I like her if you screw Potter."

Theo's face fell and Daphne grinned, "So I guess you better start thinking up ways to tell Sadie how ya feel. Bye Theo."

As Harry and Daphne left the Pitch in fits of laughter, Theo groaned, "God, why do I make deals with that girl?"

* * *

><p>"Sadie, do you think two really good friends can ever be anything more?"<p>

"Sure." Sadie replied, "If they want it enough, why?"

Theo shrugged and looked back down to his breakfast, "Oh I was just wondering."

It was breakfast time on Friday morning and so far this was Theo's 4th subtle attempt to show Sadie how he felt. Draco, Harry and Hermione were finding it very amusing whereas Daphne was getting frustrated with Theo.

The subject changed and they talked about charms for a while, "Hey Sadie, do you like anyone at the moment?"

Sadie shrugged, not looking up from the book she was reading and before she could answer Daphne stopped her, "Theo! Stop fooling around and tell her!"

"Tell me what?" Sadie asked with a frown, she had no idea what was going on.

Theo glared at Daphne and said to Sadie, "I like you Sadie; I've had feelings for you since 3rd year."

Sadie gaped, Draco and Harry sniggered, Hermione aww-ed and Daphne muttered, "Finally!"

"But Theo..." Sadie said, still in shock, "You're a complete womaniser."

Theo said, apparently forgetting that the entire 8th year table, some of the teachers and half the great hall were watching him, "I act like that with other girls because the only person I've ever wanted anything serious with is you." He didn't look away from her eyes.

"Really?" Sadie asked, with wide eyes, it was hard to interpret how she felt about Theo's confession. Theo nodded, not hearing Draco and Harry's muffled laughs as they held each other up.

"Stop it!" Hermione hissed to the two boys but it was just too funny, they _couldn't _stop laughing. Hermione shot them both glares and Daphne quite happily sat down and went back to her breakfast.

"That's so sweet Theo." Sadie said and Theo grinned, he was relieved, did that mean she felt the same? Before he could dwell on it too much she kissed him in the great hall with everyone watching and the cheering and wolf-whistling was all drowned out to Theo and Sadie, they'd wanted to do this for so long. Hermione watched them both with a smile, she hoped beyond hope that they wouldn't end up like she and Ron. She knew from experience that if you had someone as a close friend for long enough it was hard to make a relationship work.

When Theo and Sadie broke for air they heard the crowd going wild. Even up at the Head table McGonagall was hiding a small smile behind her goblet of pumpkin juice. Sadie was relatively shy and blushed at the reaction to her kiss with Theo. Theo on the other hand was anything but shy and in a way that reminded Harry very much of his Father, James Potter, Theo stood up on the 8th year table and bowed to the great hall before jumping back down and putting his arm around Sadie.

The way they were was how Harry had always assumed his parents were. The way Theo reacted he imagined was how James had reacted. In a way Theo reminded him of both his Father and Sirius, he just had a playful, yet cocky attitude to life and truthfully, it was refreshing.

**_TBC_**


	16. Father & Son

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 16 – Father & Son**

"What do you want?"

Draco Malfoy stood before the man he had once called Father with hatred in his eyes that had once been reserved for Harry.

Lucius Malfoy was a shadow on the man he had once been. His good looks had faded with age and wrinkles. The war had aged him beyond his years and his eyes were dead as if he was afraid of expressing any emotion. Father and son stood in the DADA office. Draco had been called here and as his Father was also his Professor he had been obliged to turn up.

"I spoke to your Mother last night." Lucius said quietly, looking away from his son, he couldn't bear to see him look at him with such hatred. Draco waited for him to elaborate on how this affected him. It took a minute or so but he did, "She asked me to sign the divorce papers so she could finalise them."

"Good." Draco said bitterly, his Mother wasn't an Angel but she had never wanted to be involved in what his Father was involved in. She had been dragged into it unfairly; she had never wanted to hurt anyone or kill anyone.

"She's changing her name." Lucius continued as if he hadn't heard Draco's reply, "To Black."

This made sense, it was her maiden name after all and Draco didn't blame her for not wanting to keep the name of a murdering bastard.

"She wanted to know if she should change yours at the same time." Lucius finished, watching Draco with an express on his face that was hard to read. It was almost as if he was scared of Draco's answer because it would determine how much Draco hated him.

"Yes." Draco replied after a moments thinking. He had always been proud to be a Malfoy and to carry the Malfoy name as a child but when the name Malfoy was spoken now it was met with distaste. His Father had tarnished the Malfoy name and Draco didn't want to be associated with it any longer. It would feel strange, getting used to being called Draco Black, but anything was better than the shame of telling someone your second name was Malfoy.

Lucius's face fell and Draco felt a small twinge of guilt but he didn't let on. He was too stubborn to let his Father see his emotions.

"I understand." Lucius said, "I let both you and your Mother down." He picked up his small suitcase; it contained everything of value from the Manor. In truth all that was inside it was clothes, a picture of he and Narcissa on their wedding day and a picture of Draco when he was a baby. Today was his last day as a Professor and he was leaving the school, hence the reason for his meeting with Draco.

Draco had been thinking about it, in fact he'd not been able to stop thinking about it all day. He hadn't been able to concentrate as he kept wondering whether his Father would leave without a word or whether he would try and reconcile first. When classes finished he got his answer when he was told that Professor Malfoy wanted to see him in the DADA office.

Lucius smiled weakly at his son, the son he hadn't been close to for 10 years, "If you change your mind, or if you ever need _anything_ this is where I'll be." He handed Draco a small slip of parchment which he took silently.

"Goodbye Draco." Lucius said and without another word he left the office and Draco stood stuck to the spot as he listened to his Father's footsteps echo down the hallway. It struck him then and there that the short meeting they had just had would probably be the last time he would ever see his Father again and while he was a monster, he was still Draco's Father.

Sighing, Draco sank into a seat by the desk, when he was younger his Father and he had been close but since he started Hogwarts they had grown further and further apart. Draco had realised he didn't want to be like the rest of them, he didn't want to be a Slytherin bully, he didn't want to be a Death Eater, he didn't want to kill Dumbledore, he wanted to _help _Harry. His Father had realised what was happening and had pushed harder to make Draco bully Harry and hate him so he wouldn't have joined him. If it hadn't been for his Father he and Harry probably would have become friends a long time ago. It wouldn't have taken a full blown war to bring them together.

He hated his Father, he truly hated him, but he was like him, he was very like him. The thought scared the crap out of Draco. He didn't know what to think, what to do or even who he was anymore. Lucius had managed to screw with Draco's head and his entire world before leaving, but that had probably been his intention.

* * *

><p>"Hey Draco, do you-"<p>

"Get lost Potter." Draco barked at Harry as he pushed him to the side and stormed up to his dorm room. Harry gaped for a moment and then caught an equally surprised Blaise's eye.

"Was it just me or did old Draco come through a bit there?" Harry asked the Slytherin. Blaise nodded, "That's what Draco used to be like, short-tempered, snarky."

"A bastard." Harry summarised causing Blaise to chuckle, "Pretty much. He's probably just upset and that's his way of dealing with it."

"Why would he be upset?" Harry asked with a frown.

"His Father left today." Blaise explained to Harry who still didn't get it, "He hates his Father."

"I know, but no matter what he did or didn't do in the war to Draco that's still his Father and he'll probably never see him again." Blaise said with a sad glance at the stairs. Sometimes Harry forgot he'd only been friends with Draco for a few weeks and that there were people around like Blaise and Theo who knew him so much better than Harry.

"Shouldn't we go up and speak to him?" Harry asked, he was worried about Draco, and about how Hermione would react to this Draco, the Draco that had bullied her for 6 years.

Blaise shook his head, "No, he'd just bite our heads off. Leave him alone and he'll come out of in his own time." He advised Harry who turned back to his homework with a sigh, he just hoped Draco 'came out of it' before he saw Hermione again.

* * *

><p>It was Friday night and everyone was having a party in the common room. Everyone apart from Hermione because despite what had happened only a few nights ago she was on Friday night patrol. Theo technically should have been here with her but he was too busy snogging Sadie in a dark corner of the common room.<p>

Hermione sighed, before she wouldn't have minding missing a party for a patrol but now she was dying to be back in the common room laughing and drinking butterbeer with her friends. She walked through corridor after corridor and found no disturbances; this was such a waste of time.

She could always just leave and go to the party, McGonagall would never know...But no, that wouldn't be responsible. She walked a little longer longing for the party and after another 10 minutes she muttered to herself, "Oh screw it." And made her way back up to the 8th year common room. She _was _changing but as far as she was concerned it wasn't in a bad way. After the war she wanted to have fun, when Hogwarts finished she'd do something responsible but this was her last year of freedom and she wanted to make the most of it so she didn't feel bad about skipping patrol, Theo did it all the time anyway.

When Hermione got to the top of the spiral staircase leading to the common room she laughed at the amount of noise coming from inside it. That was the advantage of having a common room in the farthest tower. It was far away from _everything _which was a pain in the ass because it took ages to get to anywhere but it meant they could have loud parties and no one would hear and bust them.

This was the first of these 'monthly parties' as they had been so named by Daphne. She said she was introducing them to the Slytherin lifestyle, partying with friends and having fun. They had all lapped up the idea, they all wanted fun. Almost every 8th year had been affected by the war in some way. The exceptions were Tessie and Isabelle who hadn't even been in the country during the war. Every other Gryffindor had fought. Dean, Neville, Lavender and Parvati had even kept the DA going, they'd camped out and practically starved rather than surrender to Snape's Hogwarts. Dean had spent a year on the run, Neville had killed a horcrux, Lavender and Parvati had taken down Death Eaters. The Slytherins hadn't been affected in the same way but they had been marked by the war. Draco had essentially lost his Father, his name and his status. Daphne had lost her Father and was left with a lonely Mother and a little sister to look after. Astoria Greengrass was a 6th year and she and Daphne were close. Sadie's Father had also been sent to Azkaban; all of them had seen their parent's torture people or be tortured, they were mentally scarred. Tracey's parents had both died in the war, Blaise had lost 2 brothers and Theo had lost his Father in the battle of Hogwarts and while he didn't exactly get on with him, the man was still his Father.

The Hufflepuffs had paid heavily too. Susan Bones had lost her Aunt in 5th year, Amelia Bones and her Mother had died in the Second Wizarding War. Ernie Macmillan, Zacharias Smith and Hannah Abbott had fought in the battle of Hogwarts and had defied Snape's regime to the extent the Cruciatus curse was used on them by the Carrows. Hannah had also lost her Mother in the war. Justin, like Dean had spent the year on the run from Voldemort because he was a Muggle-born. The Ravenclaws had done their part too, Padma had stayed with Parvati and they had fought together and defied Snape. Terry Boot and Michael Corner had also returned and fought because they were both pureblood's and attendance had been made mandatory for purebloods. The only Ravenclaw who hadn't fought was Mandy Brocklehurst because she was hiding in France with her family; she was a Muggle-born and was scared for her parent's safety.

Hermione didn't blame everyone for wanting to let their hair down this year and have fun because it was all she wanted to do too.

"The more you take away from me, the larger I become. What am I?" Dumbledore's voice asked as Hermione reached the door of the common room and knocked. She frowned for a moment before coming to the answer, "A hole."

"Correct!" Dumbledore said and the door swung open. Hermione walked in and looked around, grinning at some of the sights in the busy common room. Everyone was at the party and everyone was having a good time. Harry had gone to Hogsmeade and gotten two kegs of butterbeer which everyone seemed to be enjoying.

In one corner of the room Sadie and Theo were 'discreetly' snogging. On the sofa Harry and Daphne were full on making out with no shame. As she glanced around the room she realised just how many of the students had coupled up already and they weren't even one month into the term yet. At first glance Hermione spotted 7 couples, almost all of them inter-house and it made her happy to see. When Hermione had first come to Hogwarts this was the kind of society she had imagined, but she had been confronted with a much more backwards society and while she had come to love it there were still some things about the Wizarding world she had wished to change. One of which was the hatred between the houses and between purebloods and muggle-borns. It didn't make any sense to Hermione, white and black people got on perfectly but people hated others because of who their families were, she couldn't make sense of it and she was glad it had changed.

"Hey Mione!" A slightly drunken Tracey said, pulling Hermione into the centre of the room where a group of students were dancing. Hermione laughed as she left herself be dragged onto the 'dance floor' and be handed a plastic cup of butterbeer by Tracey. She didn't realise until after Tracey had released her that there was no sign of Draco in the common room which was strange because he had been the one who had arranged this party, him and Daphne.

Hermione walked over to where Harry and Daphne were still attached to each other and tapped them both on the shoulder effectively breaking them apart. Hermione raised an eyebrow at her friends, "Seriously?"

Daphne grinned, "Hey, it's a party." She said defensively. Hermione just laughed, "Have either of you seen Draco?" She asked.

Harry's face fell a little and Hermione was instantly worried. Daphne and Harry exchanged a look and Daphne said, "He's upset because his Father left today, he disappeared upstairs."

"Oh." Hermione said with a frown, "Has anyone spoken to him?"

Harry shook his head, "We're letting him calm down, he's-"

"Oh, there he is." Hermione said, hurrying over to where Draco had appeared at the bottom of the boy's staircase before Harry could finish his sentence.

"Hermione, wait!" Harry tried to call over the noise but she couldn't hear him. Daphne sighed, "Leave them be, Draco could be in this rut for days Harry, she wasn't going to avoid seeing him this way."

"Hey." Harry said, turning to the girl, "You called me Harry."

Daphne made a face, "How much have you had to drink Potter? I did not."

"You did so!" Harry said, he hadn't imagined it she really had called him Harry.

Daphne just shook her head, "You're a lightweight Potter. Now, kiss me again." Forgetting about whether she had or hadn't called him Harry the boy-who-lived happily obliged to Daphne's request.

* * *

><p>"Hey Draco, I heard about your Father." Hermione said when she reached the Slytherin. She didn't expect him to be warm but she didn't expect him to be icy cold either.<p>

"Stop talking to me Granger." Draco said and he began to walk away. Hermione frowned and followed him through the crowd and out of the common room.

"What the hell? You kissed me the other night and now this?" Hermione asked angrily as she glared at him.

"Kissing you was clearly a mistake." Draco said icily and started to walk away again, but this time Hermione didn't let him. She grabbed him and pushed him up against the stone wall opposite the common room door.

"You don't get to walk away from me Draco Malfoy." Hermione hissed angrily, "You don't get to hate me, _I _should be the one who hates you but I don't. I don't hate you because I forgive you for everything you ever did to me, _everything_."

"Well you shouldn't." Draco said as he tried to get free but he had underestimated Hermione's strength.

Hermione looked at him with determination in her eyes, "If I don't hate you then you don't get to hate yourself Draco. I forgave you so you need to forgive yourself."

This time when Hermione paused for breath Draco said nothing and didn't try to break free of her grasp which she assumed was a good sign, "Your Father was a sick bastard who made all the wrong choices, but that doesn't mean you have too."

Hermione's voice was softer now that she was sure she was actually getting through to him, "You share some of the same personality traits as him but you _aren't _him. You're a good person Draco Malfoy, you could be an amazing person, but you _need _to forgive yourself."

There were a few more minutes of silence and Hermione sighed, she released her grasp on Draco and said, "I've said what I needed to say, you can go now." She stood aside and gave him the opportunity but he didn't take it. Instead he looked at Hermione and they locked eyes, in that gaze Hermione saw just how vulnerable he was and all she wanted to do was hold him and tell him she'd be there but she knew that wasn't what was best for him right now. He needed to decide what he wanted himself.

"No." Draco said; his voice rugged as if he hadn't used it in hours, "I don't want to go."

Hermione nodded, "Good." She said with a small smile.

What happened next surprised Hermione. Draco walked forward and pressed her against the same wall that she had just had him restrained against. Without saying a word but conveying all his emotions with his eyes Draco leaned in closer to Hermione whose eyes fluttered shut automatically as Draco's lips met hers. This kiss was different to any of the others, it was fast, hard and needy but Hermione didn't mind one bit. In-between kisses Draco said throatily, "Mione, I can't...do this...anymore." He broke the kiss for air and said in that same rugged voice, "What do you say? Do you think you handle being with a screwed up ex-death eater for the foreseeable future.

Hermione looked into his grey eyes for a moment before grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him into another kiss; it was just as needy and passionate as the first, "Yes." She said with a grin, "If you can handle an insufferable know-it-all." She added.

Draco's grin matched Hermione's, "A sexy insufferable know-it-all." He corrected causing Hermione to laugh and kiss him again, "You're such a charmer." She teased but Draco was too happy in that moment to care.

"So what are the chances we can get through the common room to the boys dorm unseen?" Hermione asked with a devious look in her eyes that Draco had never seen before, it was a look he liked very much. The comment took him by surprise and he fished around for a moment in his head to find an answer to her question.

"After all." Hermione said; her breath hot on his neck, "Everyone is at the party, and they're all being so loud that no one-" She paused and kissed him, "would hear." She paused yet again and kissed him, "A thing."

"I don't even care if somebody does see us." Draco mumbled causing Hermione to grin and grab his hand, "Come on then."

That was how Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger ended up walking into the common room together hand in hand both looking thoroughly kissed. The moment the door opened everyone turned to see who had come through it and there was an explosion of wolf-whistles and cheers as Hermione dragged a pretty smug looking Draco through the crowd up the stairs to the boy's dormitories.

**_TBC_**


	17. The Bravest Man I Ever Knew

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 17 – The Bravest Man I Ever Knew**

_Severus Snape – Scum or spy?_

_New evidence has come to light about the role played by Severus Snape in both the Great Wizarding War and the Second Wizarding War. Professor Snape as he was known to many students taught as Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for 18 years. A new group has been formed by war hero Harry Potter and several school friends including his 4__th__ year love affair Hermione Granger and her new Slytherin boyfriend, son of You-Know-Who's right hand man Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. The group have dubbed themselves 'Prince Patriots' in honour of Snape's Mothers original surname Prince and the late Death Eaters self-titled nickname 'The Half Blood Prince.' This reporter talked to key members of the group to get the inside story._

_**RS**: Why did you decide to start this group?_

_**HP**: We want the world to understand Severus Snape's true story and honour his memory._

_**RS**: And what is this true story that makes you believe a Death Eater could have done any good in the Wizarding Wars?_

_**DM**: He made mistakes by becoming a Death Eater but he redeemed himself by spying for the side of the light for 18 years, he played a vital role in the Wars._

_**RS**: Nobody would know better than you, Mr. Malfoy, about becoming a Death Eater at a young age. What possessed you to do such a thing?_

_**HP**: This isn't about Draco, it's about Severus._

_**DM**: It's okay Harry. For your information Skeeter I was forced to join or my entire family would have been killed by Voldemort._

_**RS**: You believe Mr. Potter that you know the reason for Snape joining You-Know-Who's group of followers, would you care to share this reason?_

_**HP**: I believe that Severus joined the Death Eaters upon leaving school because he had lost the woman he loved and was bitter and angry. He very quickly realised his mistake but by then it was too late, Voldemort didn't just let people quit._

_**RS**: Now Mr. Potter, please share with the readers of the Daily Prophet the untold story you told me. It is truly fascinating._

_**HP**: From a young age Severus was friends with my Mother Lily Evans-Potter, they grew up in the same Muggle area together and Severus fell in love with her. However when they went to Hogwarts they were sorted into Slytherin and Gryffindor and it began to slowly tear them apart. When Severus called my Mother a mudblood in their 5__th__ year he lost her friendship for good and she met and fell in love with my Father and Severus's arch enemy James Potter._

_**RS**: But this didn't stop Severus Snape from loving your Mother, did it?_

_**HP**: No, it didn't. He joined Voldemort and overheard a prophecy that spoke of a boy born at the end of July who would become the only person able to destroy Voldemort. Severus told the prophecy to his Master but only later realised it was about me. He begged Voldemort to spare my Mother but he wouldn't so Severus reached out to Dumbledore and told him that he would do anything to ensure my Mother and her family were safe. Dumbledore warned my parents and they cast a Fidelius charm but Severus had to spy for Dumbledore in return._

_**RS**: The Fidelius charm however did not work as Snape hoped because the Potters changed their secret keeper from Sirius Black to Peter Pettigrew who betrayed them._

_**HP**: Yes, but Severus had already promised to spy for Dumbledore and that still stood true. Dumbledore knew that Severus couldn't help my Mother anymore but I was still alive and he knew that Voldemort would be back to find me so he asked Severus to keep me safe._

_**RS**: Despite the fact that Snape was on a mission to keep you safe he despised you, how do you know he was truly on the side of the light?_

_**HG**: Snape saved Harry's life in our 1__st__ year when Voldemort using the body of Professor Quirrell enchanted his broom, at the time we thought Snape was the one jinxing Harry but he was actually saving him._

_**HP**: Severus truly did hate me, that wasn't an act, I reminded him too much of the man who in his eyes had stolen the woman he loved away from him. He took his promise to Dumbledore seriously though and he looked out for me several times, including in my 3__rd__ year when he believed that the person who betrayed my parents was back to kill me._

_**RS**: There is still much debate around the events of your 6__th__ year and the role Snape played in it. Would you care to shed some light on that for our readers?_

_**DM**: I was told by Voldemort to kill Dumbledore or my parents would be killed. I tried a few feeble attempts that I knew wouldn't really work because as much of a bully as I was I never wanted to kill anyone but when it came to the moment and Dumbledore stood unarmed in front of me I couldn't do it. Severus stepped in and killed Dumbledore because he had made the unbreakable vow with my Mother to do so if I could not perform the task._

_**HP**: What we didn't know at the time however was that Dumbledore didn't only have a cursed hand, he was dying and he knew that if Severus killed him it would make Voldemort believe that he was truly his greatest servant. Dumbledore and Severus had already discussed it and planned it so that Severus would be the one to kill him. He also promised to keep Hogwarts and its students safe should it fall into Voldemorts hands._

_**RS**: One would express the view that he failed in keeping the school and its students safe. During his time as Headmaster the students were miserable and there were even reports of torture._

_**DM**: He did all he could but he still had to pretend to be Voldemorts right hand man. The Carrows that Voldemort made into teachers did the torturing and Severus did all he could to stop it. They weren't happy but the students were safe._

_**HP**: It was important that Severus be made Headmaster after Dumbledore's death so that he could continue to receive instructions from the portrait of Dumbledore in the Headmasters office._

_**RS**: And you say that it was through this partnership that you managed to complete your task of destroying You-Know-Who's horcruxes?_

_**HP**: Yes, Severus placed the sword of Gryffindor nearby and sent his patronus to show me the way to it. The sword was what we used to destroy Lord Voldemorts locket and later his snake Nagini. I didn't realise at the time but Severus' patronus is a doe, the same as my Mothers._

_**RS**: You then proceeded to destroy the locket and later the cup and diadem during the Battle of Hogwarts, leaving only the snake. How did you come to realise all of this about Severus?_

_**HG**: Unfortunately we didn't realise until Snape had been bitten by Nagini and was dying. He gave Harry memories and told him to take them then Harry ran off to Dumbledore's office to put the memories in the pensieve there._

_**HP**: The memories explained that Severus and Lily had been childhood friends and that Severus had always loved my Mother. He sacrificed and risked everything for her by becoming a spy. It became clear to me that Dumbledore had given Severus the job to keep me alive for a reason and through the memories I realised part of Voldemorts soul lived in me and that I had to die at the right moment, Severus had succeeded in keeping me alive so that could happen. His whole life was devoted to keeping me alive for my Mother who had sacrificed herself to save me._

_**RS**: Do you truly believe that without Severus Snape the War could not have been won by the light?_

_**HP**: Yes, without Severus I would never have seen those memories and I would never have known that I had to allow myself to die for someone to be able to kill Voldemort. He wasn't a conventional Hero, he was selfish, everything he did was because he had loved my Mother, not for me, but he still played an important part in the war._

_**DM**: The whole point of Prince Patriots is to get across to the people that hate him that he helped and he was a good person._

_**RS**: There are rumours Mr. Potter that you donated the memories to help prove your story, is this true?_

_**HP**: It isn't true but I do intend to use the memories at a later date to help Prince Patriots get what we want._

_**RS**: And what are Prince Patriot's aims?_

_**HP**: Our main aim at the moment is to get a portrait of Severus Snape placed in the Headmasters office._

_**HG**: It's proving difficult due to the fact that he wasn't Headmaster for over a year and he abandoned his post but we want the Ministry to see the good he did and change their mind._

_**RS**: Well, I wish you all good luck in your aims, and I would like to say a big thank you from myself and from our readers, for telling us the untold story of Severus Snape._

_**HP**: Thanks very much._

_**DM**: Thank you._

_**HG**: Thanks._

_So there you have it readers, the true story of Severus Snape. The news is buzzing with this latest story and there are rumours that a book is in the works, a bestseller no doubt. If you want to discuss any of the issues mentioned in this article please owl the Daily Prophet at our Diagon Alley based office (London, England.) If you want to get involved with Prince Patriots you can owl any of the 4 leading members, Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger or Daphne Greengrass. _

_- This article was written by Rita Skeeter._

"What do you think?"

Harry was nervous as he surveyed Daphne Greengrass' face as she finished reading the article that had made the front page of the Daily Prophet. They were sitting at the 8th year table and every original member of Prince Patriots was also reading the article.

Daphne put the paper down and looked up at the Gryffindor, "I think it's perfect, you did a good job Potter."

Harry grinned and Draco and Hermione shared amused smiles at the slightly love struck boy. Harry didn't seem to notice though; he was too pleased that Daphne had liked the article. She had been the one who reached out to Rita Skeeter and asked her to write it. The only condition had been that it could still be a little juicy and that the 3 to be interviewed had to have played a large part in the Second Wizarding War because it was still so fresh in everyone's minds. That had put Daphne out of the picture but from what she had just read the other 3 had done fine on their own.

"You think so?" Harry asked eagerly as he tucked into his breakfast with a proud glance at the front page of the daily prophet where a black and white picture of Severus Snape glistened, it had been taken just after he'd been made Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Daphne nodded and smiled at the enthusiastic boy-who-lived, "You told the story perfectly and you managed to get our aims in, it's great, hopefully lots of people will read it and owl us about it. This is a great promotion for Prince Patriots!"

It was clear that Daphne was as excited as Harry about this latest achievement, the two of them were the leading figures in the group, they both wanted to honour Severus so much. Draco played a huge role because Severus had been his Godfather and while Hermione hadn't been a part of it so much she wanted what was right. Between them Hermione and Daphne handled the organisation side of the group while Harry and Draco promoted it as best they could. They'd appeared on Wizard radio briefly but they hoped they would reach more people with this new Daily Prophet article.

"So, what now?" Draco asked glancing throughout the Great Hall to where many were reading the article over their breakfast.

"We wait." Hermione said with a smile, it was the Monday morning on the 22nd of September, she and Draco had officially been 'together' for just over a week although they hadn't had as much time to spend together as they would have hoped because it had been a busy week arranging the article and being interviewed for it by Rita Skeeter. Things were progressing faster than they'd all hoped which pleased everybody in the group. Already they had recruited a few new members to add to the founding 7. Some of these new members were typical, for example Blaise agreed to be a part of it like they had all imagined he would and Daphne easily convinced her 6th year Slytherin sister Astoria to join. Other surprising new members had cropped up too including Dennis Creevey who was friends with Astoria and his older brother Colin who had in turn convinced his girlfriend to join adding Luna to the group of campaigners. They now had 12 members which made the group small but it was still an improvement.

"How long till we start receiving the owl post?" Sadie asked from her spot next to Theo a little further along the table.

"Not long." Theo replied, "People will start to write as soon as they read the article, tomorrow maybe and if not then definitely Wednesday." The others nodded their agreement at his estimate.

"We need to appoint someone to look through the owl post we get. Some of it is going to be junk and hate but we need to look through it all to find the good stuff." Harry informed them all, remembering some of the hate mail that he and Hermione had gotten thanks to Rita Skeeter in previous years.

"We'll do that." Two voices echoed and the others turned to Sadie and Tracey who smiled at each other. Harry smiled back, "Perfect." He said, they were good at organising things, he had a feeling this would be their speciality and they were nosy so they got to read all of the mail, "Just be careful, Hermione and I got some nasty things sent through, open it all with gloves or use charms before opening it to make sure the envelope only contains parchment."

The girls made faces but said they would be careful when looking through it all. Harry felt lighter now that the article had been published with relatively little gossip and hate on Rita Skeeters part. Harry had to pay her a substantial amount for writing the article but he had more than enough money in his family vault and Draco and Daphne had insisted on putting something towards it. Hermione had felt terrible that she couldn't contribute so she had taken it upon herself to manage all the administrative parts of the group instead; she had done a good job with S.P.E.W so Harry trusted her immensely with it all.

"In the meantime while we await the post, I think we should get recruiting." Draco said to the small group who seemed to agree but were unsure how to go about it.

"Now that the articles out it should be easier." Hermione agreed and added, "Harry and I will handle the Gryffindors, but even if they all join it doesn't add a large amount of people to the group.

"Someone should talk to the teachers." Harry said thoughtfully with a glance to where McGonagall was subtly watching the group out of the corner of her eye and listening to them with her impressive hearing, "McGonagall knew Severus for years; I think she even liked him although she wouldn't admit it. Surely some of them would join?"

Harry looked away before he could see the small smile that formed on McGonagall's lips and the rest of the group missed it too.

"Well I nominate Hermione to ask the teachers, they like her best." Draco said with a smile at his new girlfriend. She rolled her eyes but agreed so long as the others managed to recruit some people too.

"We could ask Luna to talk to the Ravenclaws." Tracey suggested to which the others agreed, but they were at a loss to figure out who knew the Hufflepuffs well enough to try and draw them in. Eventually Harry said he knew a few 8th years and he'd talk to them.

"I could talk to my Mother, she went to school with Severus, I think she'd join." Daphne added causing Draco to say that he'd talk to his Mother too, she and Severus had been close friends. Theo said he'd talk to his Step-Mother about it and Sadie and Tracey kept very quiet.

With their next tasks decided upon the group stood up from the table and were about to make their way to their first class of the morning when McGonagall stood up at the head table and called for silence. Immediately the group took their seats again and waited to hear what she had to say.

"I have an important announcement to make." The Headmistress said, her eyes flitting to Harry, Hermione and Draco. The trio quickly realised this announcement was obviously about Ron who had been missing from classes since the fight a week and a half ago.

"Many of the 7th and 8th years may have noticed that Ronald Weasley and Seamus Finnigan have been missing from classes for some time. This was due to an incident that caused Ronald Weasley to be expelled from Hogwarts due to a breach of both school rules and the law. Seamus Finnigan will be returning to classes as of Wednesday after a 2 week suspension period. That is everything, now off to class with you all."

There was a lot of muttering as students began to leave the hall in large groups, no one really knew what had happened apart from the little group that had just been discussing Prince Patriots at the 8th year table.

"So they really did expel him." Hermione said sadly, she couldn't help but feel like it was all her fault, she'd ruined everything for him; he wouldn't get into Auror training like he'd hoped anymore.

"It was his fault Mione, not yours." Harry said as he slung his arm around his best friend, "Angry or not he shouldn't have tortured someone, especially after he'd seen that spell used on people he loved."

Draco nodded, slinging his arm around Hermione from the other side, "You can't blame yourself for his foolishness, he should have known that just because he was a war Hero he couldn't get away with everything."

Hermione managed a weak smile to the two of them, "Thanks." She said quietly as the three of them walked out of the hall like that. Daphne followed with a soft smile on her face, she and Harry were nothing more than friends with benefits at the moment but she saw flashes of a great man in Harry Potter at times like this and when she saw those flashes she couldn't help but smile like an idiot. She decided to let the 3 friends have their moment so she dropped back to where Tracey was walking alone behind Theo and Sadie and walked the rest of the way to Potions with her.

* * *

><p>As predicted the first of the owl post began to arrive at breakfast on Tuesday morning. Much to Sadie and Tracey's delight they received just over 30 letters to look through. The girls both had 2nd period off and as Tracey didn't take Transfiguration she also had double 3rd and 4th off to look through the letters.<p>

By the time Harry had dragged himself through double Transfiguration in his seat next to Daphne who seemed to enjoy passing him notes and driving him insane he desperately needed to escape to the common room with the Slytherin girl, however their plans didn't exactly go to plan. When Harry and Daphne made their way to what they hoped they would be an empty common room during lunch break they found instead an excited Tracey.

"Harry!" Tracey greeted him when he walked into the common room, she pulled a letter from a large pile on the table, "I'm glad I bumped into you, you _have _to read this letter!" Tracey seemed so excited that Harry was extremely curious to read the letter in her hand, as he took it he recognised the writing straight away which only made him more curious.

_Dear Harry,_

_I realise you will receive a lot of mail after your article in the Daily Prophet but I hope this reaches you quickly. I have recently started up my own Wizarding Law Company and I find your cause extremely interesting and profitable. I would love to assist Prince Patriots with the legal aspect of their aims. If you would be interested please owl me back as soon as possible and we can take a petition to the Ministry of Magic as our first step on the last day of September. You can put me down as a member and if I can do anything else to help please don't hesitate to owl me, you can find me at my new Diagon Alley based office (I'm above Quality Quidditch Supplies.)_

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Percy Weasley_

_P.S – I thought you might be interested to know, Ron has found work with George at the joke shop co-managing it to help reduce pressure after the loss of Fred. He is bitter but he seems to be on the mend, we don't blame you Harry._

Harry couldn't express how much that letter meant to him, he had worried the Weasleys hated him after all that had happened between the once golden trio. The fact that Percy was working in law and so eager to help was also encouraging so Harry grinned and briefly forgetting about the annoyed Slytherin behind him he grabbed parchment and a quill and composed a reply to Percy saying that yes they would love his help and they would get to work making that petition up straight away.

"Potter, lunch is over in 15 minutes." Daphne said with a glare as Harry sent the letter off with Hedwig. Harry only grinned and grabbed her hand, "And? That's long enough." He said teasingly as he dragged her up the boy's staircase much to Tracey's amusement.

* * *

><p>Harry had decided on an easier way to recruit people. After the article had come out several people had approached him, one of those people was surprisingly Neville. Harry had been sitting in the common room alone late on Wednesday night trying to finish a Herbology essay about the pros and cons of moonlight picking of certain plants relating to potion making. Hermione, Daphne and Sadie had finished it last week and Draco a few days ago but Harry had been putting it off for longer and longer until he realised it was due on Friday and he really needed to get it done.<p>

"The plants are fresher which is a pro but you need to mention that it can be a con too because certain potions need a more diluted plant to get the desired effect, it depends on the potion you're brewing."

The voice made Harry jump and he swivelled around to see Neville Longbottom standing behind him in jeans and a woolly cardigan.

"Thanks Nev." Harry said writing down the point that his friend had given him. Neville took a seat next to Harry at the table, "Do you have a minute?" He asked.

Truthfully Harry didn't, he was so busy, he had a ton of homework to get done by Friday but he could see Neville wanted to talk so he put his quill done and smiled, "Sure." He said.

"I want to join Prince Patriots." Neville told Harry who had to admit he was surprised by this, but happily so as he jotted Neville's name down on a slightly crumpled piece of paper that he had pulled from inside his robes.

"That's great Neville." Harry said happily. Neville just smiled a little, "I think it's great what you're doing and he does deserve at least a portrait, he kept so many students safe, Hogwarts could never have survived without him."

Harry nodded, "He was a brave man."

"Have you heard about Ron?" Neville asked almost shyly as if the subject would irritate Harry but it didn't, it only made him tense up a little, he nodded, "He's working with George at the shop, yeah, Percy told me."

"Do you still talk to him?"

"No." Harry said honestly, "He threatened my friend in front of my baby Godson and then used an unforgiveable curse on that friend."

"So that's what happened." Neville realised, "Yeah I did think it was something like that." He shook his head in disgust, "What an idiot."

"My thoughts exactly." Harry admitted to Neville who said, "I knew he had a temper but using an unforgiveable is too far..." He trailed off and Harry could tell he was thinking about his parents and the fact that the same curse Ron had used on Draco had been used on them.

"He's not a bad guy, Draco."

"No, he's a great friend." Harry said with a smile, "It's hard to believe he and I hated each other a few months ago." He added with a chuckle to which Neville laughed along with, "If it wasn't for him I don't know what the Carrows would have done to me." He shuddered, "And he saved Hannah too in the final battle, he stopped a Death Eater who was about to cast the killing curse at her."

'He was bitter.' Harry told Neville, hoping Draco wouldn't mind, 'his Father made him that way and we always saw the worst of him but know we're seeing the best of him, I think a lot of its down to Hermione to be honest.'

Neville seemed to agree with this, 'they work together more than Hermione and Ron ever did.' He said quietly in case anyone came down the stairs and overheard, 'they just seem to fit.'

'They make each other happy', Harry said, thinking of all that Hermione and Draco had gone through, 'and I think for now that's enough.'

'Isn't that enough for anyone right now?' Neville asked although Harry knew it was a rhetorical question, 'after what we all went through in the war I think we all just want to be happy.'

'Yeah, I guess we do.'

'Are you happy Harry?' Neville asked, his eyes surveying his close friend, 'with Daphne?'

Harry gave Neville a weak smile, 'You see right through me Nev.' He said and Neville merely shrugged his shoulders, 'I've known you a long time.'

'You have.' Harry agreed, 'and I am happy, Daphne's fun and I've not had fun for a long time. Sometimes I just...' He trailed off and looked away from Neville but his fellow Gryffindor seemed to understand.

'Sometimes you just want more.'

He hadn't admitted to anyone yet, everyone thought he was content with this 'relationship' with Daphne but he wasn't, he wanted more from it than she did. Yet here was Neville who saw right through the whole facade so Harry nodded, 'Yeah, sometimes it's just not enough.'

'Do you want a glass of firewhiskey?' Neville asked with a sly Slytherin like smile as he showed Harry the bottle behind his back. Harry laughed and transfigured two glasses, Neville poured them both a glass and they chinked them together.

'To Prince Patriots.' Neville said as he and Harry both drank deeply from their glasses.

* * *

><p>After this late night chat Harry had finished his essay and spent a large part of Thursday finishing his homework. It was when the common room was full and bustling on Thursday night that he decided to come up with an easier way of recruiting members of Prince Patriots. So far only 13 of their 14 members had signed the contract but Percy was going to sign the next time they saw him. The new lawyer version of Percy had advised they have at least 20 signatures if not more and Hermione had been so busy with homework that she hadn't yet gotten around to talking to the teachers or the Gryffindors.<p>

Harry spontaneously jumped up on the table in front of the fire and shouted, 'Everyone, listen for a second!'

Being the boy-who-lived and the Hero they all considered him to be everyone in the room fell silent to let Harry speak. Before he would feel nervous talking to people like this but things had changed and he felt completely at ease, everyone in this room was his friend with the exception of Seamus who was hated by a large majority of the 8th year now that news about what had happened in the trophy room was getting around.

'As you all will know we have formed a group called Prince Patriots. We're going to the Ministry of Magic with a petition on the last day of September. We're trying to get the Ministry to put a portrait of Severus in the Headmasters office and we need all the support we can get. Who'll sign?' Harry asked the large group very casually. Several hands shot up into the air, most of them Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.

Harry grinned, 'Brilliant! Just go over to Hermione and sign the piece of parchment, you can chose to join as a member or just join the petition, up to you.' He told them all before adding, 'thanks!' He then jumped back down onto the sofa next to Daphne who raised an eyebrow at him and then glanced to the queue to sign the petition Hermione was holding, 'Nice one Potter.'

'Thanks.' Harry said with a smile, things weren't quite the same with Daphne after Harry's talk with Neville the previous night; he was rethinking a lot of things. He was considering breaking things off with her because he knew he'd never be anything more than a convenient friend to her and although he thought he could handle it he had realised that he couldn't because unlike his casual flings with the likes of Cho Chang just after the war he actually had real feelings for Daphne and the longer they continued their 'thing' the stronger they got and the harder they got to suppress.

By the time the queue had vanished they had gained a substantial amount of members. Hermione made her way over to where Draco, Daphne and Harry were sitting on the sofa talking about the upcoming first Quidditch game of the season and casually dropped down onto Draco's knee, the Slytherin of course didn't complain.

'Well done Harry, we just gained 10 members.' Hermione said happily not taking her eyes from the list in front of her.

'Who joined?' Harry asked curiously. Hermione consulted the parchment she was holding and replied, 'Dean, Lavender, Parvati, Padma, Hannah, Terry, Ernie, Justin, Susan and Michael Corner.'

'That's impressive.' Draco said with a glance at Harry's smug face, 'that means only six 8th years didn't join.'

'Well I knew Isabelle and Tessie wouldn't.' Hermione admitted after making sure the two girls weren't within hearing range, 'they don't really like to be a part of any trend unless it involves fashion, and they never joined the DA either.'

'And we didn't exactly expect Seamus to join.' Dean whispered from his spot beside Tracey on an armchair next to the sofa. This was true, after all that had happened with Ron it was extremely clear how prejudice Seamus still was despite this new age of unity.

'The Ravenclaw girl Mandy didn't join either, but she's very shy. Who else didn't join?' Daphne asked the group in general.

'Zacharias Smith and Megan Jones.' Harry said under his breath, 'but I can see why that is, he's very opinionated and she's easily influenced, he's clearly voiced an opinion of Severus that she's lapped up, but 10 is great. That brings us up to a total of 24 members; over 20 like Percy asked and we still haven't asked the teachers.'

The others agreed and were in high spirits at how well the little group seemed to be doing and it only got better. The next morning Ginny approached Harry at the 8th year table over breakfast.

'Morning Harry.' Ginny said dropping onto his lap and grabbing a bit of toast, Harry was surprised at first at the casual way she was acting but then he remembered they'd acted like this before they'd dated.

'Morning.' Harry said as Ginny slid down to sit next to him on the bench, 'Got a petition for me to sign?'

Harry grinned and asked Hermione for the petition then he handed it to Ginny who signed and said, 'Put me on your members list too.'

'Thanks Gin.' Harry said happily as he himself tucked into some toast.

"Michael was telling me about it." Ginny said with a smile at the Ravenclaw in question who was watching her from further down the table, 'he saved my life too, from the Carrows, I think it's great what you're doing.'

'Glad you think so.' Harry told her happily, adding, 'back on first name terms with Michael are you?' He raised his eyebrows at her and she rolled her eyes, 'You're as nosy as a gossiping teenage girl.' She teased, 'and yes, for your information I am, we've been talking again.'

'I bet you have.' Harry said suggestively which earned him a slap on the arm from Ginny, 'Just talking.' She said honestly, 'but you on the other hand have been getting up to all kinds of things all over the castle I hear.'

Harry blushed a deep red at Ginny's words; she spoke quietly so that Daphne who was sitting further up the table with Hermione wouldn't hear her. Ginny grinned as she added, 'I heard you were found in a broom cupboard.'

Harry cursed under his breath, 'Hermione said she wouldn't tell anyone about that.' Ginny just laughed and told him to find her if he needed anything from her regarding Prince Patriots and then she made her way back to the Gryffindor table.

That same Friday Harry was approached by Michael Corners friend 7th year friend Anthony Goldstein who also wanted to join PP. They had also received letters from several people who said they were devoted to the cause and would happily be part of the group and sign a petition. These people included Order of the Phoenix members such as Dedalus Diggle, Hestia Jones and Elphias Doge who trusted Harry and his story about Severus because they had trusted Dumbledore and he had trusted Harry. Ex-students had also written to join, many members of the old Quidditch team had joined including Oliver, Alicia, Katie and even George who had added in his letter that Ron was much better now, he'd realised how stupid he had been and that everything that had happened was his own fault. As they said they would several Slytherins wrote to their parents about Prince Patriots and as a result Narcissa had joined and had even persuaded her sister Andromeda to join too. In addition to this Lareina Greengrass and Salvadora Nott had both signed the petition and joined.

Hermione spent most of Friday talking to her teachers at the start and end of classes. As a result she recruited Slughorn who had taught Severus and Lily when they had been at Hogwarts together and had seen many of the events that had led to Severus joining the Death Eaters play out. Harry also managed to recruit Trelawney by saying that he'd had a vision that if she joined it would greatly help them achieve their goals. While he'd had Divination Hermione had managed to find and recruit Hagrid and Professor Sprout and with a few well chosen words at the end of Transfiguration and Charms she had expertly convinced Professor Flitwick and the Headmistress herself to be a part of Prince Patriots. All in all it had been a successful week and now the petition had 43 signatures and their 'little' group wasn't so little now with an equal 43 members.

* * *

><p>Harry was on a high when he walked into the Great Hall fairly early on Saturday morning, everything in the world seemed to be going his way for a change. He had helped himself to some pumpkin juice and toast and seated himself next to Hermione when Hedwig flew into the great hall with a letter addressed to both he and Hermione in very familiar writing.<p>

Harry felt sick as he tapped Hermione and pointed at the letter and her face paled at the sight of it, they both swallowed hard as Harry slowly tore the seal off and pulled the piece of neatly folded parchment out of the envelope. He glanced at Hermione who gave him a nod as if to say it was okay to unfold the letter. With nervous shaking hands Harry opened the letter and started to read the familiar joined up writing.

_Dear Harry and Hermione,_

_We thought we ought to write to you to let you know that we don't blame you for the events that have unfolded in the last few weeks. We understand that when you are young relationships aren't always supposed to last forever and after all you young people went through in the Second Wizarding War goodness knows all we want for you is to be happy. First of all, to Hermione, you could not have stopped yourself falling in love with someone else, Ginny explained everything to me and you handled everything in the most mature way possible. Unfortunately my son seems incapable of doing such a thing. He's aware it is his own fault that his own actions have ruined his future chances in life and I think he will always regret that. Harry, you have always been like a son to Arthur and I and that isn't going to change now. I understand that this is one fight you and Ron will probably never be able to overcome but we want you to know that our door is always open to both of you. No matter what has happened you are still our family and we have already lost one member of this family, we couldn't bear to lose two more._

_We'd also like you to know that you can count Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fleur and I down as members of your group Prince Patriots and we will happily sign your petition. We were both very proud of your article in the Daily Prophet._

_All our love,_

_Molly and Arthur_

Harry and Hermione were both glad that they were the only people at the 8th year table in the fairly empty great hall because the letter had Hermione crying and had formed tears in Harry's eyes that he was trying to stop from falling. It meant so much to them both that they hadn't lost an entire family of close friends, a family they considered as family, over a friendship ending argument with one member of said family. The Weasleys had always been generous and kind but they were also very loyal to their own family and Harry and Hermione were sure they had lost them all, it felt like a great relief to know that they hadn't. The two Gryffindors still weren't sure what would come of Ron, right now the wounds were too recent and talking to him would still only lead to more pain but maybe someday they could at least be on polite terms with each other.

Harry put his arm around Hermione's shoulder and smiled at her as he allowed a few stray tears to fall, 'Want to go out for a walk?' He asked. Hermione appreciated what he was doing and nodded with a weak smile. Together they stood from the table and Harry took Hermione's hand, she intertwined her fingers through his as they walked through the oak front doors into the grounds. The grass crunched beneath them and the air was fresh and crisp.

'Thanks Harry.' Hermione said as they made their way over to the lake where the giant squid's tentacles were occasionally causing splashes. Harry only smiled at her as they continued walking. Everything really was going right for them both and it was such a refreshing change. Harry found himself feeling excited again about the rest of 8th year, after all so much had happened already and they hadn't even been back at Hogwarts for a month yet. Despite his depressing thoughts about his relationship with Daphne everything seemed brighter now to Harry, everything always seemed brighter when you had hope and right now Harry didn't think he'd ever had so much hope before in his entire lifetime.

**_TBC_**


	18. Of Ministers & Funerals

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 18 – Of Ministers & Funerals**

When Tuesday the 30th of September rolled around everyone was feeling bright and hopeful about finally taking the petition of 48 signatures to the Ministry. They really thought they were going to get results. Delivering the petition were the founding 7 members of Prince Patriots, Harry, Hermione, Draco, Daphne, Sadie, Tracey and Theo. Coming along with them for the legal and political side of things was their big legal guy Percy.

The group of 7 arrived in the atrium via the floo network from McGonagall's office at Hogwarts and met Percy by the new statue in the centre of the large impressive circular room. The horrific construction that Voldemort had built was long gone and had been replaced by a silver Phoenix, the entire atrium had been redecorated on that front and was now black and silver rather than black and gold. The new statue according to Kingsley Shacklebolts comment in the Daily Prophet was to represent a new society being born out of the ashes of the Second Wizarding War. Around the base of the statue in small but legible writing were the names of all the witches, wizards, muggles, goblins, house-elves and centaurs that had died in both the Great Wizarding War and the Second Wizarding War.

After a brief moment of examining the statue the group of 8 then made their way towards the desk where the security wizard sat. They marched up confidently and the man glanced up at them, 'State your business.'

Percy stood confidently at the front of the group, 'We have a petition for the Minister for Magic and we aren't leaving until we make sure he gets it.'

This made the security wizard sit up a little and narrow his eyes at them all, 'You can't do that without a permit to campaign in a hall of government.'

Percy seemed to be in his element, 'I think you will find that by law we can.' He said, glancing around at the 8th year students behind him, 'by standard Wizarding rights we have a right to freedom of movement within our own country.' He was clearly spouting law-speak so naturally everyone understood him except Harry, 'that means we can stay here for as long as we want.'

The security guard looked fed up, like he put up with crap like this all the time, 'That doesn't apply to buildings restricted to officials above a certain ranking such as the Ministry of Magic.'

This didn't stop or discourage Percy, he merely moved onto his next reason for them being allowed to stay, 'Under the Declaration of Wizarding rights every witch or wizard has the right to freedom of opinion. By decree 19 every witch or wizard can express that opinion without being punished whenever and wherever they want.'

The security wizard seemed to find this one harder to challenge because he seemed to search for words for a moment. Feeling more confident Percy continued, 'We have the right to remain here until you take our petition and ensure it reaches the Minister for Magic.'

The poor security wizard was at a complete loss now, apparently he didn't know much about this Declaration of Wizarding rights. He told them to stay put and with an annoyed glare at the group of mostly school kids he left to get the leading security wizard.

'Well done Percy.' Harry said to the Weasley, he was very impressed and could see why Percy had wanted to go into Wizarding law, he was good at it.

'Ah that was nothing.' Percy said as he turned to the 8th years, 'the hard part will be getting the petition to Shacklebolt, they will tell us to schedule a meeting and there are 6 month waiting lists for meetings with the Minister for Magic.'

'Not if you're Harry Potter.' Daphne said with a glint in her eye as she turned to Harry who reacted in a way she didn't expect to this.

'I'm not using the fact I killed Voldemort to get my own way. That would be the Slytherin thing to do.' Harry said and he had to admit it came out much more coldly than he would have liked to admit. Things between him and Daphne had been deteriorating in the last few days ever since that damned talk with Neville. Harry knew that Daphne had noticed something; he'd been quieter around her but fine around the others. Truthfully he didn't know what to do because while he enjoyed their fun relationship he knew he needed something more and that she would be unable to give it to him so he'd been distancing himself from her until he had figured it out. Harry knew that Draco and Hermione had noticed the change and he suspected Draco understood what was going on but he hadn't yet brought the subject up with Harry.

Daphne was taken aback by the cold tone to his voice but she didn't say anything back to him, she just shot him a dirty look and shared a slightly confused look with Sadie and Tracey. Anything that could or might have been said however wasn't because at that point the annoyed security guard returned with an older, greyer, slimmer man. He reached the group and narrowed his eyes at them, 'What seems to be the problem?'

'There is no problem sir.' Percy replied with a tight smile, 'we are here to give a petition to the Minister for Magic and we refuse to leave until we're ensured it will reach him.'

The security guard surveyed him in annoyance, 'I'm informed that you know your Wizarding rights boy so you know fine well that we can't shift you until your campaigning causes a breach of the peace by ruining peoples day. That means as of noon you are campaigning in unsociable hours and we can kick you out of here at best and fine you at worst.'

'I'm well aware of that sir, however currently its only 7am.' Percy said, he knew he was getting his way and he was smug about it, the security guard looked like he wanted to punch him but he didn't. Instead the man said, 'Very well. Someone will send the secretary for the Minister down to speak to you shortly. Until then you don't leave this here atrium, understood?'

'Loud and clear.' Percy replied as the older security stalked off and the younger man grumbled under his breath at the audacity of young people these days. Percy turned to the group and led them away from the security desk to a small seating area near the wall of lifts.

'Was that a success?' Harry asked, it had looked and seemed like one but he really didn't understand law lingo.

'Of course it was.' Sadie said before Percy could answer and Theo nodded his agreement, 'We're one step closer, the Ministers secretary is coming to see us.'

'What do we do until then?' Draco asked the group as a whole and Hermione grinned, she shot a smirk at Daphne and in a few swift wand movements the two girls had conjured up a little stand with a large board above it saying 'Prince Patriots – Honour late war hero Severus Snape!' The two girls sat down behind the stand and Hermione grabbed a stack of pamphlets, she split the pile between Draco, Harry and Theo and told them to split up around the atrium and hand them out. The boys knew to do what they were told so they made their way to the centre of the atrium but when they were sure the girls were busy talking and not watching them they stuck together rather than splitting up.

'What's going on with you and Daphne?' Draco asked his friend as soon as the 3 boys were out of hearing range. Harry groaned at the girls name and Draco raised an eyebrow at him, 'That bad?'

Harry nodded, 'I just can't do it anymore,' the Gryffindor admitted as he handed a pamphlet to a passing ministry worker, 'I'm so fed up with it.'

'I thought you knew what you were getting into.' Theo said from Harry's other side, 'you said you warned him Draco.'

'I did.' Draco said in annoyance, 'I told you Harry, she doesn't do relationships.'

'I know.' Harry said with a slightly annoyed eye roll, 'At first I thought I could handle it but I do relationships, not flings.'

Draco looked at Harry with concern in his eyes that he couldn't mask, he was paler than usual as if he was under a lot of stress, 'This is eating you up Harry, you can't carry on this way unless you want to ruin your friendship with Daph, you need to end it, she'll understand.'

'It's not that easy.' Harry grumbled as they handed out more pamphlets to a group of gossiping middle aged witches, 'she's amazing and I like her, I don't want to just be her friend, I want to be more.'

'She'll never go for it.' Draco said sadly, he knew Daphne well and she had never done relationships, she was too afraid of getting hurt but in the process she hurt a lot of people, 'I'm sorry.'

Harry just shook his head and told Draco it wasn't his fault. The next little while was spent handing out the pamphlets while the girls tried to recruit people and Percy wandered off to talk to the press who had arrived the moment they heard about a campaign.

The secretary to the Minister for Magic didn't turn up until just after 11am and at that point the campaigning stopped to sit in the seating area by the lifts with her.

'Good Morning.' The woman said in a tone of fake politeness. She had her blonde hair up in a loose bun and she wore a fake tight smile on her pretty young face. The woman looked vaguely familiar but Harry couldn't quite place how. She sat down across from the group and introduced herself, "I'm Faith Burbage, the secretary to the Minister for Magic.'

Something flashed in Hermione's eyes that Harry and Draco both saw but neither could interpret. It was clear straight away that Harry recognised her because she looked similar to Charity Burbage, the late Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts. Faith was clearly her younger sister because she was too old to be her daughter.

'I'm afraid you picked a bad day to come to the Ministry. The Minister for Magic is out on business all day and won't return until tomorrow.' Faith Burbage informed them.

'In that case can you make sure this reaches him?' Percy asked handing the woman the petition. With her fake smile she replied, 'Of course I can. Would you mind leaving the Ministry now?' It was a question but it was rhetorical, they had to leave now that they had handed over the petition so with a feeling that things could have gone a lot better the group left the Ministry in much lower spirits than those they had arrived in.

* * *

><p>When Harry woke up he was vaguely aware that it wasn't morning time because it was still dark outside. He frowned to himself; usually he didn't wake up until the sun started to shine through the dorm window. He couldn't comprehend what had awakened him but then he heard it. The sound of someone crying in the bed next to his, he knew straight away the sobs were coming from Neville's four-poster bed. Harry didn't know what to do, he didn't know whether Neville needed to be left alone or whether approaching him would help. He waited a short time to see if the sobs would subside but they only got worse. It sounded like the sobs were wracking through his whole body and after 10 minutes Harry couldn't just lie in bed and not do anything about it. He opened the curtain and swung his feet out of bed and onto the cold wooden floor then slowly padded the short distance between his bed and Neville's.<p>

'Nev.' Harry called out so softly and there was a gasp and the sobs stopped.

'H...Harry.' Neville said quietly and weakly.

'Do you want...to talk, or anything?' Harry asked, he felt useless but he wanted to do something, anything, for Neville.

Neville opened the curtains to his four-poster and Harry saw his friend's tear-stained red, blotchy face and bloodshot eyes, 'Come in if you want.'

Harry took Neville's invitation as a plea for a friend and climbed up to sit across from his fellow Gryffindor on his bed. He pulled the curtains shut behind him and cast a muffliato charm on them. Neville weakly thanked him and they didn't speak for a little while but Neville had stopped crying at least.

'Everyone I love is gone Harry.' Neville said quietly, eventually breaking the silence. Harry wasn't too sure how to respond so he didn't say anything. Neville spoke again, 'I just got back from McGonagall's office. My Grandmother is dead.'

Harry's heart sank, "Oh...Neville, that's horrible. I'm so sorry.'

Neville shook his head and the tears began to fall again, 'She fought in both the Wizarding wars and then not even a year after it's all over she falls down the stairs and breaks her neck.'

Again Harry was at a loss for words, but he did understand Neville's pain, he'd lost Sirius who'd been like a Father to him and shortly after he'd lost Remus who had loved him like a son.

'It probably won't help Neville but just before I went to Voldemort to sacrifice myself I saw my parents.' Harry confided in his friend but he knew he couldn't tell him about the resurrection stone because that was a secret that was to remain strictly between Harry, Ron and Hermione, 'and I know it hurts and the wound is raw but there is something more, you'll see her again one day.'

Neville managed to smile weakly at Harry as his way of saying thanks because Harry understood that he wasn't capable of speaking after the horrible news he'd just received. They sat in silence, just keeping each other company for a very long time after that, until the sun began to rise and penetrate through the thick curtains of the four-poster bed.

'You'll come to the funeral, won't you Harry?' Neville asked out of the blue as the sun rose higher in the sky. Harry was taken aback by the question but answered, 'If you want me there then of course I'll be there.'

Neville seemed satisfied with this answer because he gave a small nod to Harry then said, 'Thank you.' The two words were simple but the meaning behind them was all that Harry needed to hear to know he'd done the right thing by approaching Neville instead of ignoring his sobs, they'd been a cry for help, he'd needed someone and Harry didn't blame him at all.

* * *

><p>The 1st of October was a difficult day for all. Harry's issues with Daphne went out of the window as he devoted all of his energies into helping Neville get through the haze of pain he was hiding behind. Neville had 1st period off and Harry didn't think it was a good idea to leave his friend alone so he decided to skip Divination.<p>

'Potter!'

Harry knew who had called before he even turned around, hardly anyone called him Potter these days and besides he would recognise that voice anywhere. Harry turned from his spot at the bottom of the boys' staircase to look at Daphne who was standing by the door to the common room. Neville was in the dorm room and the two of them found themselves alone in the common room.

'Are you coming to Divination?' Daphne asked and Harry didn't know if he'd imagined it or not but he could have sworn that there was something different about her. She seemed less cheery and more serious, she never waited for him, they never walked to class together, she always went with Sadie and Tracey and he walked alone.

'No.' Harry said honestly causing Daphne to frown, "No as in you aren't coming or you don't want to walk with me?" She asked and Harry was sure she looked hurt. Harry sighed; he had bigger issues to deal with right now but he couldn't just leave Daphne wondering what was going on with him, that wasn't fair. He crossed the room and said, 'I'm skipping class; tell Trelawney I'm helping a friend.'

'What's wrong?' Daphne asked speaking more softly than he'd ever heard her speak. Harry grimaced, his head was aching, 'Neville's Grandmother died last night Daphne. He needs me right now.'

There was a moment of silence in which Daphne looked down at the ground, 'Give him my condolences, I'll see you later?'

Harry nodded, 'Yeah, maybe.' He said with the best smile he could manage but he could tell that Daphne knew it was fake and forced. She gave him a small nod and left the common room. Harry tried to push her from his head as he made his way up the stairs to the dorm room, he needed to be there for Neville right now, he could think about his issues with Daphne later.

The others suspected that something was wrong when Neville and Harry didn't turn up for Herbology and they could tell that Daphne knew something but when she was asked she said nothing. Draco suspected Harry had told her not to talk about it until the right moment so he left the issue alone. After Herbology Hermione, Draco, Daphne, Theo, Sadie and Tracey all sat in the courtyard with one of Hermione's excellent fire jars keeping them warm.

'Do you think they're okay?' Draco asked, more concerned than he would have liked to admit.

Hermione nodded and smiled at her boyfriend, 'Harry does this, he disappears for a while and then comes back again, I'm sure we'll find out whats wrong soon enough.'

'Potter's fine.' Daphne said, speaking up about the conversation that morning, after all she didn't want them to worry about the wrong person, 'It's Longbottom, but I don't think I should say whats wrong until he tells you himself.'

The others understood and stopped asking Daphne questions about it, besides the bell had rung before anymore could be said on the matter and the group made their way to DADA where they would be meeting their new Professor for the first time. For the last week and a half the classes had been taken by the Heads of House until the new Professor had time to make his way to Scotland and settle in. Everyone was excited to see who this new guy was and the corridor outside was buzzing with chatter as they waited for the door to the classroom to open.

'What do we know about him?' Daphne asked the group as a whole and got several replies back.

'He's called Professor Poliakoff.'

'He went to Durmstrang.'

'He's young.'

'He's gorgeous.'

Draco and Theo rolled their eyes at the girls as the door to the classroom swung open. They figured with a new Professor they could shuffle the seats around a little so Draco and Theo sat down at a table for 4 at the back of the room leaving two seats in the middle which they were saving for Harry and Neville. Daphne, Hermione, Sadie and Tracey took the table for 4 in front of the boys and once everyone was seated the new Professor walked out of his office.

He _was _gorgeous. He looked fairly young, only a few years older than the 8th years and he had a very Scandinavian look about him. His hair was the same colour of white-blonde as Draco's and it was naturally messy like Harry's. He had blue eyes, very vivid blue eyes, like Dumbledore's. Sadie and Tracey were whispering about his cheekbones and Draco and Theo were sharing looks of amusement and bemusement.

'Good Morning,' Professor Poliakoff said with a smile that showed off white teeth that could have rivalled Lockhart's. He descended the stairs and leaned against the desk at the front of the room, 'my name is Professor Poliakoff, and I'm with you for the rest of the school year to complete my training. Today I'd like to familiarise myself with you all and get up to speed with where you are in the N.E.W.T course.'

Draco heard whispering and glanced to the front of the class where Parvati was looking shocked and pale as she whispered to Padma and Lavender. The Professor didn't seem to notice as he picked up a register and began to read out names.

'Hannah Abbott, Terry Boot, Susan Bones, Mandy Brocklehurst, Lavender Brown, Sadie Cauldwell, Isabelle Chambers, Michael Corner, Tracey Davis, Justin Finch-Fletchely, Seamus Finnigan, Hermione Granger, Daphne Greengrass, Megan Jones, Neville Longbottom-' Poliakoff stopped and looked up with a frown. His eyes found the two empty seats at Draco and Theo's table.

'He's absent from classes today Sir, as is Harry Potter.' Daphne spoke up and the Professor smiled at her, 'Thank you Miss-' he consulted his list, 'Greengrass.' Poliakoff marked off the two names on the list and then got back to the attendance.

'Ernie MacMillan, Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Padma Patil, Parvati Patil-' Poliakoff paused again at the shaky, 'Present' that came out of Parvati's mouth when her name was called. The Professor glanced to where she was sitting and frowned then continued, 'Harry Potter is absent, Teresa Pritchard, Zacharias Smith, Dean Thomson and Blaise Zabini.'

With the attendance taken Poliakoff stood up and said, 'Now, I'd like to rearrange the classroom a little,' he asked everyone to stand up then with a few flicks of his wand replaced the tables with a circle of comfier chairs, 'if everyone would like to take a seat.'

It was a strange and different way to start a class but everyone did as the Professor said. Once they were all seated Poliakoff took the seat closest to the desk in between Dean and Hannah, 'I want to find out a little more about you all so we'll go around the circle and I'd like you to state your name, your house and an interesting fact about yourself.'

There was some mumbling and exchanges of looks at his words, but this felt familiar to Hermione, it was very similar to what Muggle primary school teachers did to find out a little about everyone and get more comfortable with their students.

'We'll start with you Miss Abbott and continue around clockwise.' Poliakoff said kindly as he smiled at Hannah. However Hannah didn't get to speak right away because the classroom door burst open and in walked Harry and Neville looking a little more tired than usual but other than that fine.

'Sorry we're late Professor,' Harry said as he walked over to the new DADA Professor and handed him a note, 'The Headmistress gave us a note to explain.' Poliakoff took the note, quickly read it and smiled, 'Not a problem boys, take a seat in the circle.' With another flick of his wand two more chairs appeared between Draco and Theo so they took their seats, Harry next to Draco and Neville next to Theo.

'I was just telling your classmates that we're going to go around the circle. If you'd just like to state your name, house and tell us an interesting fact about yourself.' Poliakoff told them, catching them up on the class. He then politely asked Hannah to start again.

'My name's Hannah, I'm a Hufflepuff and I have an owl called Rumpelstiltskin.' Hannah said blushing a little but Neville grinned broadly and Harry was relieved to see his friend smiling again. There was some laughter around the circle.

'I'm Susan, also a Hufflepuff and I play beater on the Quidditch team.' Susan said with a smile, she'd gotten very pretty over the years, her hair was a dark red and she had green eyes, she reminded Harry slightly of his Mother. He hadn't known she'd played as beater, it was unusual, it was usually a male position.

'I'm Megan and I'm a Hufflepuff,' Megan said, apparently struggling to find a fact about herself that was interesting, 'uh, I'm Welsh.' There was some chuckling at this.

'I'm Padma, I'm a Ravenclaw and I have a birth mark on my back that looks like Marilyn Monroe.' Padma said proudly causing some sniggering from the area where the founding 7 of Prince Patriots were sitting.

'I'm Terry, I'm a Ravenclaw too and my parents are Muggles so before I knew I was a wizard I wanted to be a rock star.' Terry admitted with a sheepish grin, Harry chuckled, he liked Terry, he'd always stuck by his side.

'I'm Michael, I'm in Ravenclaw and my ex-girlfriend just agreed to take me back this morning.' Michael told them all with a boyish grin, there was some chuckling around the circle and Poliakoff joined in. Harry shook his head in amusement; he'd seen that one coming.

'I'm Isabelle, I'm a Gryffindor and my Great Great Grandfather was the Minister for Magic.' Isabelle said proudly with a hair flick which made Daphne and Hermione turn to each other and share a subtle look of exasperation.

'I'm Tessie, I'm in Gryffindor and I have a sister in Ravenclaw called Tamsin.' Tessie said a little shyly, she didn't like to be in the spotlight.

'I'm Lavender, I'm in Gryffindor and I'm part seer.' There were a lot of snorts and muffled laughter at Lavenders comment which made her lean back in her chair and sulk. Poliakoff looked a little sceptic and turned to the next speaker.

'I'm Parvati, I'm a Gryffindor and you know exactly who I am,' Parvati was looking at Poliakoff with determination gleaming in her eyes, 'because you spent the whole night dancing with me at the Yule Ball,' She had now stood up and was walking over to where Poliakoff looked a little uncomfortable, 'and then we went out for a walk in the grounds and you kissed me,' Parvati reached the Professor and stopped, she stared him right in the eye, 'and I _know_ you remember it.'

Poliakoff visibly swallowed, 'I'm sorry that I didn't write.'

There was lots of excited whispering as this exchange happened between their classmate and their new Professor. Parvati raised an eyebrow at him and he continued, 'I didn't think I'd ever see you again, leaving was horrible.'

'If it had been that horrible you'd have wrote to me.' Parvati said simply and with that she turned on her heel, grabbed her bag and left the classroom. There was stunned silence for a moment until Poliakoff pulled himself together, 'Alright, we'll call it a day there.'

As the class left the room everyone was talking about what had just happened.

'Professor Poliakoff is the guy that Parvati danced with at the Yule Ball.' Harry was telling the others, 'you were too busy dancing with Krum and having fun to remember,' he added at the look of confusion on his friends face. Hermione chuckled and Harry continued, 'I was being boring and wouldn't dance so this Durmstrang student asked her and she went away and I didn't see her for the rest of the night.'

'Now he's back and he's her teacher.' Hermione realised, she sighed, 'oh poor Parvati.'

'She must be so mad to see him, especially since he didn't write.' Daphne added and the girls got so wrapped up in the conversation that they didn't notice the boys falling behind a little.

'Are you two okay?' Draco asked Harry and Neville, the two Gryffindors were touched by the Slytherins concern.

'My Grandmother died last night.' Neville told Draco and Theo, 'I wasn't exactly fit for classes so Harry stayed with me until I felt like I could move again.'

'Merlin that's horrible, sorry Neville.' Draco said, Theo nodded his agreement and said solemnly, 'Yeah sorry man.'

Neville shrugged, he didn't like people making a fuss of him which was why he was telling as little people as possible even though he knew everyone would know soon when it appeared in the Daily Prophet, 'Just got to get on with it I guess,' he said, 'the funeral is on Sunday.'

'Well at least you'll have Hannah by your side.' Draco said with a small smile but he'd said the right thing because Hannah's name made him brighten up considerably and he hurried ahead of the others to find her before lunch. The other 3 boys made their way towards the great hall for lunch feeling a lot better about how Neville was doing.

* * *

><p>Harry knew that he couldn't avoid Daphne forever, she'd left him be for the most part on Wednesday because she understood he was upset about Neville's Grandmother, after all he'd known her too. On Thursday Harry got up early and ate before Daphne had even woken up but they had classes together and he knew he'd have to face her eventually. He had 1st period off and knew Daphne would be in the library so he took to the common room to study; only it didn't exactly go to plan.<p>

'Hey Potter.'

Harry jumped when Daphne walked into the empty common room shortly after 1st period had started.

'Why aren't you in the library with Sadie and Hermione?' Harry asked, trying to sound casual but really he was curious.

Daphne walked over to his table and leant against it, 'Because I knew you'd come here thinking I'd be in the library, and I want to talk to you.'

Well, he had known it was going to happen, better to face it now than later.

'You've been avoiding me.' Daphne stated and Harry wondered if he heard hurt in her voice, but he shrugged it aside. Not wanting to lie to her and make it worse for them both Harry nodded, 'Yeah, I have been.'

'Are you going to explain why?' Daphne asked as she pushed herself up on the desk and crossed her legs, she was looking down at him with narrowed eyes like she was trying to read his mind, it was very unsettling.

Harry groaned and rubbed his eyes, he hadn't being sleeping well with everything on his shoulders again, 'It's complicated.'

'I don't think it is,' Daphne said lightly, 'I think it's not what you were expecting.'

'You're right,' Harry agreed, not looking at the Slytherin, 'It isn't what I was expecting which is both good and bad.'

'You Gryffindors,' Daphne teased, 'you never did make any sense.'

Harry managed a weak chuckle and he eventually looked up at the girl. He really looked at her for a moment, studied her, she was so beautiful, more beautiful than he'd ever really appreciated. Today she was in her school uniform, her usual short skirt and cleavage revealing blouse that the teachers told her off about, her Slytherin robes were draped loosely around her and she was wearing the black high heels that infuriated McGonagall. It wasn't her body that attracted Harry to her though, although he did love it and it was probably the part of her he knew best. He wished it wasn't, he wished it was her brain because he knew underneath the beauty she was so intelligent and witty. Her face was heart-shaped and her long hair was white-blonde and reached the middle of her waist. It was Daphne's eyes that Harry loved so much, they were the colour of the ocean and when she let her guard down they swam with so much emotion. What saddened Harry was how little that wall came down and he knew it was because she hadn't had an easy upbringing, he understood that better than she knew.

'Do you want me to come to the funeral tomorrow?' Daphne asked, interrupting Harry's thoughts. He was surprised, they'd never really done anything as friends or as a couple' they were so in the middle that Harry never really knew where they were. Due to his surprise Harry didn't answer straight away and Daphne seemed to worry she'd said the wrong thing, 'I just thought you'd appreciate the support, I know it won't be easy.'

Harry smiled to himself, so she really did care after all, maybe there was hope for them yet, hope that whatever they had was developing into a friendship at least, maybe even a relationship. The Gryffindor looked up at Daphne, he'd never seen her look unsure of herself and even now she just looked slightly hopeful but the mask was up and he couldn't read her thoughts, emotions or feelings.

'I'd like that.' Harry said simply, smiling at Daphne, he really would like the company; he knew Sunday wasn't going to be easy; he'd already been to too many funerals. Dumbledore's, Moody's, Remus and Tonks's, Severus's, Fred's. The thought of another funeral when all the fighting was over was unbearable to Harry and it meant a lot to him that Daphne was willing to be there for him in a time like that, 'Can you apparate?'

Daphne nodded and Harry was glad, he hated side-along apparition, he didn't want to get to the Church and realise Daphne was missing any of her body parts, 'I'll meet you in the common room at 8am.'

'Okay.' Daphne said smiling at him, she reached down to where Harry's hand lay by his quill on the desk and grabbed it taking him by surprise; she squeezed his hand and said, 'I'll see you in Divination later?'

Harry nodded, feeling a lot lighter, 'Yeah, if I can finish this damn dream diary.' He joked and Daphne chuckled as she jumped down from the desk, she stood very close behind him and grabbed her bag, 'Why don't you just write down your real dreams?' She asked.

Harry couldn't help but grin at that because it brought back images from the dreams he'd been having for the last 2 weeks, 'Because most of them involve you in compromising situations.' Daphne laughed, 'I'm flattered Potter,' she said as she swung her bag over her shoulder and walked towards the door with a quick 'see ya later' and then she was gone and Harry was alone again. He was glad things with Daphne were more normal but at the same time he was sure she'd been different but then again he didn't actually talk to her very much when it was just the two of them. Usually they were surrounded by people and when they weren't they were too busy doing other things to actually talk, but it was refreshing and Harry hoped it wasn't just a fluke that would be gone in a few days.

* * *

><p>Sunday morning rolled around slowly but when it was finally there Harry just wanted it to be over. Harry had been invited to the funeral on the basis that he had known Augusta through the Order of the Phoenix and Hermione got an invitation for the same reason as did many of the teachers at Hogwarts. Harry was bringing Daphne with him and Hermione was bringing Draco, everyone wanted to be there to support Neville. When Harry and Neville got up they didn't speak to each other as they dressed in their smartest black dress-robes, they both wore black robes with a white shirt and a black tie and when they met Draco in the common room he was wearing similar attire.<p>

Hermione, Daphne and Hannah joined the 3 boys in the empty common room looking smart and stylish. Daphne was wearing a simple black dress that was a reasonable, respectable length and had a square neckline. Hermione was dressed in a similar black dress although hers was a little longer than Daphne's and covered more. Hannah played a bigger role in the funeral process because she was Neville's girlfriend so she was wearing a floor-length black dress with a high neckline, but she still managed to look gorgeous. All three girls were wearing black headbands and were looking as depressed and solemn as the boys when they made their way into the common room.

No one was particularly hungry so the group made their way out of the castle in silence. They didn't say a word to each other all the way from the furthest away tower to the gates of the school. Each one of them was lost in their own thoughts, Neville about his Grandmother, Hannah about the pain her boyfriend was going through, Harry and Daphne about what this meant for their relationship, Draco about the fact he hated funerals and Hermione about how grateful she was to Draco for accompanying her despite how much he disliked funerals.

When the little group reached the gates they spun and apparated to the church in Godric's Hollow where Augusta's funeral was to take place. The little square they arrived in was the same one with the statue of Harry's parents although it had been expanded and was now a war memorial for the people from Godric's Hollow who had died in both the Wizarding Wars. Harry hadn't known until Augusta's death that she and Neville stayed in Godric's Hollow, in fact Neville's Grandmother lived two streets away from his parents destroyed cottage and his parents had lived in the house next door to Lily and James. The house was still theirs, Augusta must have had some hope because she had kept paying until the mortgage was paid off and she employed someone to keep the house and garden clean. Neville said he didn't like going there because he found it creepy, it was preserved so it was exactly the same as it was before they're been tortured 18 years ago.

Daphne didn't know Harry as well as Hermione did so she understood when they reached the square and Harry froze and Hermione took his hand that they knew something about this place that she didn't. Draco and Daphne shared a look and walked toward the church with Neville and Hannah, leaving the two friends to talk.

'Their funeral was in this church.' Harry said softly to Hermione who nodded and looked sympathetic, 'I know Harry.' She said, hugging her friend. Harry hugged her back, closing his eyes, taking a deep breath and pulling himself together.

'Okay,' he said quietly, not letting go of Hermione's hand, 'let's do this.'

Hermione nodded, impressed and proud at how well he was coping with this, she kept her hand in his as they hurried to catch up with the others who were waiting for them by the Church door. Hannah and Neville stood by the Church door to welcome the guests and with a few words of encouragement Draco, Harry, Hermione and Daphne walked into the small Church to take their seats. It was very small with only 4 rows of pews; it looked like it might only hold 40 people. The roof was high and the walls were lined with large stain glass windows so that it made the little space very bright. The front row of pews was where all Neville's remote family were sitting, uncles, cousins, etc. The second row was reserved for close friends and this was the row where many of the teachers were sitting, McGonagall with her handkerchief at the ready. The quartet took their seats in the 3rd row with the likes of Augusta's fellow Order of the Phoenix members, old school friends and colleagues.

They didn't speak as they sat and waited, looking at the coffin at the end of the room, it was closed as Augusta had requested in her will. Harry took the opportunity to look around the room as the guests filed in all wearing black. In the row in front of them Kinglsey seemed to be comforting McGonagall, Harry had never seen them speak before and didn't even know that they got on or were friends. Harry briefly wondered about talking to Kingsley about Prince Patriots but he decided it wasn't the time or place and it would be extremely disrespectful to do so at a funeral. Eventually all the guests had arrived and Neville and Hannah walked in last, taking their place at the front of the room with the rest of Neville's family.

Harry zoned out a little as the words were spoken by the preacher, how Augusta had been a sister, a mother and a grandmother. How she'd been loved by many, how she'd lived a long and full life, how she'd brought up Neville all on her own, how she'd fought in two wars, how she'd had an impact on so many lives. It was the usual speech, the time to talk about how great the dead person was and Harry had heard it so many times. There had been nothing like that at Severus's funeral, only a handful of people had attended, the preacher had said the basic lines then put the coffin in the ground, Harry was angry at the time and he still got angry looking back on it, Severus deserved so much more than that.

Once the preacher had finished talking it was Neville's turn to stand up and speak. Harry could see him visibly take a breath, Hannah squeezed his hand and he stood up with an air of confidence about him that Harry was glad to see.

'My Grandmother raised me from a very young age after my parents were tortured to insanity,' Neville began, his voice only a little shaky, 'I don't remember my parents much but every day the pain of missing them bears down on me. My Grandmother must have felt that pain every day too and because she did know them and had so many happy years with them it must have hurt all the more. She never once let it show, she was always strong and she did an amazing job raising me on her own, it wasn't easy for either us but despite any disagreements at the end of the day she loved me and I loved her. Rest in peace Grandma.' Neville managed to hold back the tears until he took his seat again next to Hannah. The preacher said a few more words and then it was time to carry the coffin into the graveyard.

This job fell to Neville, his Uncle and 2 of his cousins. Draco and Hermione found each other's hands as they walked behind the coffin out of the church. Poor Hannah walked at the front with one of Neville's female cousins. Harry's eyes were on Draco and Hermione's intertwined hands in front of he and Daphne, the motion was simple but it was their way of saying they were there for each other and that it would all be okay. Harry was startled when he felt a hand in his and he glanced to his right to see Daphne give him a weak smile, her hand felt strange in his, it was so small and soft compared to his rough calloused hands from years of playing Quidditch. They walked the rest of the way to the burial plot without saying another word and Harry's heart broke a little as he watched Neville break down as the coffin was lowered into the ground. The grave was filled in and the crowd dispersed on route for the wake at what had once been Augusta's house but was now Neville's. After everyone had left the graveyard only two people remained standing by the burial plot.

'It doesn't ever go away, the pain,' Harry told Neville honestly as he placed his hand on his friends shoulder, 'but it does fade with time, in a year it will hurt when you think of it, in 2 years it will hurt when you see something that reminds you, but in 3 years you'll be able to live with it, but you'll still miss her every day.'

'How did you deal with it Harry?' Neville asked, not taking his eyes away from the newly marked out gravestone, 'Getting your Godfather back then losing him so soon?'

Harry sighed, 'Honestly Neville at first I didn't deal with it, I pushed everyone out and hurt my friends, I didn't want to be close to anyone and feel that kind of pain again, but then I realised he was in a better place. Sirius hadn't been truly happy since the night my parents died and I knew he was with them again.'

'I don't even have the comfort of knowing that she's with my parents.' Neville said slowly, turning to face Harry with bloodshot eyes and a tearstained face, 'I know it's horrible but at least you know you're parents are dead and in a better place.'

Harry shook his head, 'It's not horrible, it's understandable.'

'Thank you, for being here through this.' Neville said as he began to take shaky steps towards the kissing gate of the graveyard. Harry placed his hand on Neville's arm and steadied him as they walked, 'You're one of my best friends Neville' you don't need to thank me for wanting to be here to support you.'

Harry couldn't have known how much that meant to Neville, but it meant a great deal and helped him feel strong enough to hold his head up high and walk on his own out of the graveyard and towards the house around the corner where he would have to make niceties with people that he barely knew. Harry understood how hard that was; he'd been the one who had played that role at Remus and Tonk's funeral. He knew better than Neville realised how it felt to carry the coffin of a loved one, he'd carried Remus's coffin and Severus's.

Severus's funeral had been at the end of May, it took longer to bury the dead because so many had died. It had been in a small Muggle church with only 12 guests. Those had included 4 8th years, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco. They hadn't talked the funeral, Draco had nodded to them politely but that had been the extent of communication, the war had just finished and Draco was still mourning his Godfather, it wasn't the time to start a fight or attempt a truce. Narcissa and Andromeda had also attended as had several teachers including McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, Hagrid and Trelawney. It had surprised Harry to see Trelawney at the funeral but he'd established that she'd gone to school with him. The most surprising guest was Harry's Aunt Petunia who said she wanted to pay her respects for what he did for Lily and for Harry. Harry had shared a slightly awkward moment with his Aunt and she'd cried and hugged him after apologising for the way she treated him. Harry had established that although he doubted they'd ever be close they were now at least on a birthday and Christmas card basis. Harry had received a present for his birthday when he turned 19 the July after the final battle, and a card signed 'Lots of love, from Aunt Petunia and Dudley' but there was no mention of Uncle Vernon. Harry, Draco, Hagrid and Flitwick had carried the coffin, the event had saddened Harry more than he'd thought it would.

Harry and Neville had caught up with the main group and Neville was walking a little further ahead with Hannah leaving Harry lagging behind the larger group until Daphne spotted him and fell back to join him. She slipped her hand into his again and said, 'When we get back to Hogwarts do you want to sneak to the Hogs Head?'

Harry smiled, she knew him better than he thought, he'd been thinking exactly the same thing. Not worrying about what they were or where the boundaries were Harry put his arm around Daphne and she didn't stop him, 'Daph, I think that's a great idea.'

_TBC _


	19. Better than Revenge

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 19 – Better than Revenge**

Monday the 6th of October, the day after the funeral, was a difficult day for Neville but he got through it with the help of his friends, he went to class and he did his homework and he kept himself busy. It helped that Neville had made the Gryffindor team and was playing as a beater alongside Dean because having practice 4 times a week seemed to be helping him get through. He survived the first week without any major catastrophes and he was getting more and more back to his ordinary self with much thanks to Hannah.

It was on Friday night when everything changed and it all happened purely by chance. The founding 7 + Neville were discussing their latest plans for their campaign, Neville was interested in Prince Patriots and it was another thing he could do to occupy himself so he had thrown himself right into it with the others. The 8 of them were the key members of the group, the ones that got things done, however they still hadn't heard back from Kinglsey about the petition and Harry wondered if he'd even received it, there had been a distrustful vibe about his secretary.

'I don't think it even got to him.' Harry voiced to the others in the otherwise empty common room, 'she didn't seem trustworthy and her name is Burbage, the same as Charity Burbage.'

'That's because they are sisters,' Sadie informed him, 'Charity was a Ravenclaw and Faith was a Slytherin, she's the youngest and Charity was the oldest, theres another Ravenclaw called Hope.'

'How do you know these things?' Theo asked in disbelief, Sadie blushed and replied, 'I overhear lots in the library.'

'That makes me trust her even less,' Hermione said with narrowed eyes and Draco and Harry knew her well enough to know by her face that an idea was brewing in her head, 'she's Charity Burbage's sister and Snape was there when Burbage died, they were friends and Snape didn't save her because it would have made Voldemort suspicious.'

Draco frowned, 'How do you know that?' he asked in shock, he remembered it well, he'd seen it, it had happened at _his _house, 'You weren't there.'

Hermione shrugged and shared a glance with Theo who looked down. Draco looked between them suspiciously, Theo hadn't been there either but his Father had been, 'You told her?'

Theo rolled his eyes, 'It came up in conversation during a late night charms essay session.'

'Only you could make that sound dirty.' Hermione said with a roll of her eyes that made Sadie chuckle. The Gryffindor continued, 'Anyway it doesn't matter how I know, what matters is the fact that Faith Burbage obviously blames Snape for her sister's death.'

It was then that the others cottoned on to what she was getting at, looks of realisation appeared on their faces, only Harry had seen where Hermione was going with her theory because he'd had the same one.

'And our campaign is to honour Severus's memory.'

'She doesn't want that because she thinks he's a murderer.'

'She's stopping the Minister from seeing the petition!'

'Exactly!' Harry and Hermione said in unison with a smile at each other for figuring it out.

'So what do we do now?' Daphne asked, biting her lip, 'How can we get it directly to the Minister for Magic?'

There was a moment of thoughtful silence which Neville filled, 'Harry mate, I think you're going to have to use your status as the greatest hero of our century.'

There was some laughter at this and Harry joined in, 'I think you're right Nev. It's time to get up close and personal with Mr. Shacklebolt.' The group shared more laughter and started to think about ways to corner Kingsley.

'He'll visit Hogwarts at some point.' Hermione said logically and everyone frowned, 'Why would he visit Hogwarts?' Draco asked the Gryffindor girl, who grinned, 'Isn't it obvious? To visit McGonagall.'

Everyone was completely lost so Hermione chuckled, 'You haven't noticed? They've been very close; I think there's something between them.'

'Kinglsey and McGonagall?' Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, he couldn't see it, but Hermione just told him to wait and see and that it wouldn't be long until the Minister appeared at the castle.

With their Prince Patriots business resolved everyone said goodnight and made their way up to their dorm rooms, after all it was after 1am. Only Harry and Neville remained in the common room, Neville wasn't tired and Harry had an essay to finish that he really didn't want to work on at the weekend. They sat in comfortable silence, the only sounds being the fire crackling, Harry's quill scratching against the parchment and the pages of Neville's book turning.

All of a sudden Neville spoke, breaking the silence and making Harry jump a little, 'There's one thing about my Grandmothers death that I don't understand.'

Harry frowned, examining the strange expression on Neville's face, 'What's that?' He asked.

'McGonagall told me she died around 3am in the morning by falling down the stairs and breaking her neck,' Neville explained, 'but her bedroom is downstairs, I can't think of a reason for her to be upstairs at that time in the first place, all that's up there is my room and the attic.'

Harry put his quill down, that _was _suspicious, why would a woman of her age be upstairs at that time of night, especially if there was no reason for her to be, 'Are you sure McGonagall said it didn't seem suspicious?'

Neville nodded, grateful to Harry for hearing him out, 'She said the Ministry ruled it as accidental death, not suspicious or suicide.'

'So they didn't investigate it any further?' Harry asked, he had now abandoned his essay and had turned to face his friend. Neville shook his head, 'They closed the case at accidental death.'

Still frowning Harry stood from the desk where he had been working on his essay and moved over to the sofa to sit by Neville, 'I think we have reason to believe that her death was suspicious.'

'Really?' Neville asked, he was surprised that someone was listening to him and not just calling him crazy. Harry nodded, 'How many Death Eaters escaped capture or death?' He asked.

Neville frowned, 'I'm really not the right person to ask,' he admitted, 'you should ask one of the Slytherins.' Harry 'hmm-ed' thoughtfully then stood up and walked to the girl's staircase.

'Harry! What are you doing?' Neville asked as Harry made his way up the staircase, he wasn't sure what McGonagall's logic was but in the 8th year common room the girl's staircase was climbable by boys.

'Getting the girls,' Harry said as if this was obvious, 'Get Draco and Theo and bring them down here.' He added as he disappeared from view, he climbed to the Gryffindor girl's dorm room and knocked, 'Hermione, we need you in the common room.' Harry called before continuing up to the dorm that the Slytherin girls shared with Padma and Mandy.

'Daph, Sadie, Tracey!' Harry called after knocking on the door. He heard some groaning and mumbling from inside the room followed by, 'What do you want Potter? It's 2am.' Harry smirked; he liked getting under Daphne's skin, 'It's important, come to the common room as soon as possible.' With his mission complete he made his way down to the common room where Neville was waiting by the fire with Draco and Theo, both of whom were in their boxers, their Slytherin green boxers, Draco's even had a snake on them.

'Seriously?' Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, Draco only rolled his eyes, 'Whats the big deal?' He asked but Harry shook his head, 'Wait till the girls get here.'

Just after he spoke Hermione walked into the room wearing pyjamas that only Harry had seen before, they were full length white lace pyjamas that only hid what needed to be hidden. Draco, Theo and Neville all gaped when Hermione entered the room but she didn't seem to notice, 'What's going on Harry?' She asked sleepily as she dropped down onto Draco's knee on the sofa.

'I'll tell you when Daphne, Sadie and Tracey are here.' Harry said, trying not to laugh at Draco's reaction to Hermione's pyjamas; however when the 3 Slytherin girls entered the common room both Harry and Theo's reactions to Daphne and Sadie's outfits was similar to Draco's. Daphne's minimal clothing policy clearly applied to nightwear too because she was wearing emerald green underwear with a tiny see-through baby doll over the top of it and nothing else. Sadie was a little more conservative but not much, these girls weren't shy, neither was Hermione now, she'd changed since they'd left after 6th year, she'd grown up.

When Harry had pulled himself together and gotten over how great Daphne looked he addressed them and told them the reason he'd woken them up, 'Neville and I have reason to believe that his Grandmothers death wasn't accidental, it's looking like someone murdered her.' Harry explained their suspicions and the others agreed that it was indeed suspicious.

'We need your help figuring out how many Death Eaters escaped capture or death.' Harry explained to the Slytherins who then realised why they were there.

'My Father is staying in a dingy one room basement in London,' Draco said dryly, 'but he has 'reformed' himself, so he says.' Harry made a face, 'I know your Father is a complete bastard Draco but I doubt he's behind this.'

Hermione agreed with a small nod and said thoughtfully, 'I don't think so either. The prime suspects are the Lestrange's of course, but I think they all died in the Battle of Hogwarts.'

'We know Molly killed Bellatrix.' Harry said, but he didn't know what had happened to Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange.

'Rodolphus was killed by Tonks just before Bellatrix killed her,' Neville piped up, he hadn't known Tonks as well as the others had, her death still upset Harry, especially when he thought of poor Teddy without a Mother and Father.

'Rabastan is dead too,' Sadie said, causing all eyes to turn to her slightly pale face, 'he tried to attack my Mother when he came by my house to recruit my Father and my brother killed him.' Harry had known that Sadie didn't have Death Eater parents, but he hadn't known that she had a brother.

'What about Greyback?' asked Tracey from her spot on one of the armchairs, 'you know, the werewolf.'

Harry shook his head, 'He's dead, he was killed by an Auror after trying to attack Lavender.'

'My Father is dead,' Theo said quietly, sounding completely unlike his usual confident self, 'he insisted on fighting in the final battle, he was killed by your friend's brother, Bill.' Harry hadn't known that but made a note of it and thanked Theo.

"My two brothers are in Azkaban,' Tracey informed the group, 'and my Father is dead too.' Harry hadn't realised how much the war had affected the Slytherins, he hadn't realised how terrible their lives must have been, living with Death Eaters, people so cruel they got a rush out of hurting others.

'Pettigrew is dead and so is Yaxley.' Hermione told them, 'Yaxley was killed in the final battle.'

'I can't think of many people, who did escape capture or death to be honest Harry,' Draco said with a frown, 'The Carrows, Crabbe and Goyle Senior and Junior, Travers, Mulciber...they're all in Azkaban.'

'Add Rookwood, Avery, Wilkies, Jugson and Selwyn to that list,' Theo said, 'they were all injured in the Battle of Hogwarts and rounded up by Aurors.'

Harry sighed in frustration, 'But there must be some, the Aurors are good but some must have fled before they could round them up. Can't you think of anyone?'

There was silence as everyone in the room wracked their brains, 'What was the name of the executioner who tried to kill Buckbeak? He was a Death Eater, wasn't he?'

'MacNair,' Draco said darkly, 'yeah he was a Death Eater and I have no idea what happened to him.' The others all agreed that they didn't think he'd been on the list of deceased or captured.

'Rosier and Rowle?' Theo suggested with a frown as if he was trying to think of something, 'they both fought in the final battle and I don't know what happened to them.'

'What about Dolohov?' Harry asked, the look in his eyes hard to read, 'he killed Remus, but what happened to him after that?'

Hermione's eyes swam with pain at the mention of Remus's death, 'I don't know.' She answered and neither did anyone else in the room.

'I think we just found our murderer.'

* * *

><p>No one slept very well that night, there were too many thoughts drifting through everyone's heads. However Harry and Neville didn't sleep at all, they sat up all night both lost in their own thoughts about what was going on. Neville was consumed by anger and a thirst for revenge, he was going to find the person who did this and kill them, he was sure of it. Harry was anxious about the fact that Death Eaters were still out there hurting people, he had thought it was all over, he had thought they had put an end to the suffering. Once they had realised that Dolohov was the most likely killer they needed to figure out what to do next. Neville had been all for going out and finding him and killing him, but Harry who had been backed by the others, calmed him down and told him that revenge wouldn't help anyone. They had decided instead to take the information to McGonagall and hope she would take it to the Ministry or the Order.<p>

When the sun had finally set in the sky Harry and Neville got up, dressed silently and made their way to the common room where they weren't surprised to find the others all dressed and waiting. Amongst the founders of Prince Patriots there was one other person.

Hannah looked at Neville with pain and sorrow in her eyes and hurried over to him, throwing herself into his arms. As hurt as he was he couldn't push her away so instead he closed his eyes, pulled her close and took a deep breath.

'I'm so sorry,' she whispered as she let a few tears fall, she didn't stop hugging him and without opening his eyes he whispered, 'Thank you.'

The others had turned away to give them some privacy, they knew this must be killing Neville, he'd just being coming to terms with the fact that his Grandmother was dead when all of a sudden it turned out she might have been murdered. He was going through it all again and the others were glad that he had someone grounded like Hannah next to him through it all.

'Are you ready?' Hannah asked, pulling back from the hug and looking into his eyes. It was hard to see what he was feeling because there were so many emotions there, anger, fear, pain. Neville nodded, he was ready. Hannah took his hand and they led the way out of the common room followed by the others. No one spoke as they made their way to the Headmistresses office and it was only when they reached the gargoyle guarding it that they realised they didn't have the password.

'Glencoe.'

The gargoyle immediately jumped to the side and the others looked at Hermione in surprise.

'How did you know that?' Harry asked as he looked at his best friend in amazement. Hermione frowned at him, 'I'm the Head Girl.' She said as if this was obvious.

'Oh,' Harry said slowly, 'I keep forgetting you're the Head Girl.'

'It's because I've corrupted her.' Draco said with a wink as they followed Neville and Hannah up the spiral staircase to the wooden door at the top. Neville knocked and after a moment McGonagall called, 'Enter!'

They all shared a look and a few nods to confirm that they were definitely doing this and then Neville pushed the wooden door open and led the way into the circular room to face McGonagall.

The Headmistress seemed surprised at the amount of people making their way into the relatively small office. Hannah, Draco, Hermione, Daphne, Sadie, Theo and Tracey hung back while Neville and Harry walked straight up to the desk.

'What can I do for you so early on Saturday morning?' McGonagall asked looking tired.

'We need to talk to you about my Grandmother.' Neville said confidently, more confidently than he felt.

McGonagall frowned but before she could say anything Harry said, 'We have reason to believe she was murdered.'

McGonagall raised an eyebrow at Harry, 'I know you defeated Lord Voldemort Mr. Potter but I didn't realise that made you Hogwarts personal Detective.'

Harry rolled his eyes, he knew it was disrespectful to McGonagall and usually he wouldn't have dreamt of it but this was serious and he needed her to listen, 'I'm serious Professor, something is wrong.'

McGonagall sighed and leaned back in her chair, 'Alright,' she said, 'I'm listening.'

Neville breathed a small sigh of relief at this and told McGonagall what he'd told Harry the night before, 'My Grandmother fell down the stairs and broke her neck, but she shouldn't have been upstairs in the first place. Her bedroom, the bathroom and the kitchen are all downstairs, all that's upstairs is my room and the attic. She wouldn't have had any reason to be upstairs at that time of night.'

Harry nodded, adding some facts into the mix before McGonagall could pass judgement, 'and Dolohov is one of the Death Eaters who evaded capture, Augusta killed his best friend Yaxley, he had motive.'

McGonagall's lip tightened and she didn't speak for a moment, but when she did it was to disappoint them all, 'I agree Potter that it's suspicious, however it is out of my hands. It did not happen at Hogwarts therefore it is out of my jurisdiction. I'm afraid you will have to take it up with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.'

'But Professor, can't you do anything?' Neville asked, almost begging, he had really hoped that she'd be able to help them.

McGonagall seemed to wish she could do more as she said, 'I am truly sorry Longbottom.'

Feeling disappointed and disheartened the group left McGonagall's office and trudged back to the 8th year common room with their heads down.

'I'm sorry we couldn't do more Neville.' Hannah said sadly once they were clear of the corridor in which McGonagall's office resided. Neville merely shrugged, 'Thanks for trying.'

But they weren't done yet, Harry, Draco and Theo had been sharing glances since they left the office and they were slowly hatching a plan between them, 'We aren't finished trying yet Neville.' Draco said with a gleam of determination in his eyes.

Neville looked up with a frown, 'What do you mean?' He asked.

Theo shared a knowing smile with Draco, 'We aren't giving up just because McGonagall won't help us.'

Neville seemed at a complete loss as to what was going on but the girls seemed to understand where the boys were going with this. Harry grinned at them both and took over, 'Between us we've hunted down horcruxes, taken down Death Eaters and kicked ass. If anyone can find Dolohov, it's us.'

Neville's eyes lit up, 'Seriously? We're going after him on our own.'

'We're not alone,' Hermione said as she smiled at him, 'there are 9 of us and only 1 of him.'

'When do we leave?' Daphne asked with a grin, they were going to do this; they were going to hunt down Dolohov and make him pay, for Neville.

'Well it's a Saturday and I don't know about you guys, but I've got nothing better to do today.' Harry said grinning round at the group who all agreed and began to make their way down to the entrance hall. Between them they had every strength they needed to find Dolohov, and they were going to succeed.

_TBC! :D _


	20. The Best Years of Our Lives

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 20 – The Best Years of Our Lives**

'So what do we do first?' Sadie asked when they reached the gates of Hogwarts and were ready to apparate to their first destination.

'First things first, we make sure we're right,' Hermione stated, glancing around at the rest of the group, 'we need to get your Grandmothers wand Neville and find out what the last spell she performed was.'

Neville nodded, that way they could see if she was defending herself before she died, 'It's at the house, back home.'

'Neville and I will go back to Godric's Hollow and find out what the last spell was,' Harry informed the others, 'once we're proven right we need to start looking for Dolohov so we're going to need to split up.'

'Right,' Theo said, gearing up for the search and then asking, 'uhh, how _are_ we going to find Dolohov?'

Harry chuckled, 'I was just getting to that part,' he said and then he turned to Draco and Hermione, 'I need you to go to your Father.'

Draco's face fell, 'Harry...' he said quietly, trailing off and looking Harry straight in the eye. Harry knew that look well, it was fear, and Harry felt horrible for making his friend do this, 'I know you hate him Draco but if he has any idea where Dolohov is...' he trailed off and Draco understood, his Father might be their only hope to finding Dolohov and getting justice for what happened to Augusta.

'Fine,' Draco agreed grudgingly, 'but I can't take Hermione with me, you know his feelings about mud-' Draco stopped himself before it was too late, 'muggle-borns.'

Hermione glared angrily at Draco, 'I know his feelings towards people of my birth and I can handle it Draco, I've handled worse. I'm used to being a mudblood.' She pulled the sleeve of her top up to reveal the white scars reading 'mudblood' on her arm, the scars that Bellatrix had left. Draco fell silent and swallowed hard when he saw the scars, he grabbed her arm and pulled the sleeve down to cover them up then he kissed her, he kissed her and poured raw emotion into the kiss, when he pulled away she saw he had tears in his eyes and those same eyes burned with anger, 'Don't you ever call yourself that again,' Draco said, his voice lower than usual and husky, 'promise me that, okay?'

Hermione was stunned by this side of Draco and even more so at the fact he was showing it in front of so many people but she nodded, 'I promise.' She whispered. Draco hugged her tightly, 'Thank you.'

While this exchange had gone on Harry had been delegating jobs to the others, 'Sadie and Theo I want you to go to the Ministry of Magic and check the public records, find out where he lived before he was sent to Azkaban. Tell the assistant head Miss. Chang that Harry Potter sent you and she'll give you full access.' Sadie and Theo nodded and twisted on their heels, with a loud crack they had vanished.

With Sadie and Theo gone Harry turned to Daphne, Tracey and Hannah to tell them what he had planned for them, 'If I was a Death Eater on the run I'd hide in plain sight, I'd hide in the most obvious place because people would think it was too obvious to look there,' he liked this whole being in charge and delegating thing, it was fun, 'I want you girls to look around Hogsmeade, you know what Dolohov looks like, check all the obvious places and talk to Aberforth.'

Hannah and Tracey nodded sincerely at Harry's words but Daphne grinned from her spot next to him, she saluted him, 'Yes Sir, Auror Potter, Sir!' Harry grinned and kissed her, 'Get to work Miss. Greengrass.' He teased and with a laugh she and the other two girls waved goodbye and headed into Hogsmeade.

'Good luck.' Harry said to Draco and Hermione as they prepared to apparate to London. Draco nodded, 'We'll need it.' He admitted as they both spun around and vanished leaving only Harry and Neville standing in the cold October morning breeze.

'To Godric's Hollow then.' Harry said and with a nod Neville apparated away from the gates with Harry close behind him. As Harry didn't know exactly where Neville lived he apparated to the first place in Godric's Hollow that came to mind; his parent's house.

When Harry arrived he looked briefly at the old ruined building before tearing his eyes away from it and glancing around to see Neville wave to him from the gate of the house next door to Harry's parents. With a frown Harry made his way over to the gate which had inscribed on it 'Frank and Alice Longbottom (+ baby Neville)'.

'My Uncle moved my Grandmothers things out of the house, he said it was too hard to see them everywhere, he lives there now.' Neville explained as he pushed open the gate and walked down the garden path to the front door. As in many Wizarding houses the door to Neville's parents house didn't require a key, it was blood locked so the moment Neville placed his hand on the door it swung open. Harry felt like an intruder when he walked into the house, it did appear to have been untouched since Frank and Alice were tortured 18 years ago. The hallway that they walked down was lined with pictures on the walls, all moving as Wizarding pictures did. The first picture was of Alice and Frank at the beach, Frank was lifting her up and she was wearing a red swimsuit, they looked like they were just out of Hogwarts, so young and so carefree. The second picture was of Neville's parents on their wedding day, they were dancing the first dance and were holding each other incredibly close, they were both smiling widely, they still looked so young. The next picture was another wedding photo but this one was of the entire wedding party. Frank and Alice stood in the middle of the photo holding hands and to Frank's right stood 3 familiar men. Wearing black dress robes and looking very smart stood James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, James and Sirius had even tamed their hair for the event. To the left of Alice stood her 3 bridesmaids, Lily was there, red hair flowing and smiling happily at her friend, on her hand an engagement ring twinkling but not a wedding ring, not yet. Next to Harry's Mother was a woman Harry recognised from an old Order of the Phoenix photograph, Marlene McKinnon, and the 3rd woman he didn't know. The next picture in the hallway was of Neville when he was only hours old, Alice was smiling as she held her baby boy, she looked exhausted but still managed to look beautiful. The final picture in the hallway was of Neville again on his 1st birthday, he had a cake in front of him and a party hat on his head. Alice and Frank stood behind him and behind them Lily and James were smiling. Harry looked closer and saw that he was sitting next to Neville at the little table, Neville's parents and his parents had been closer than he'd realised.

While Harry had been examining the photographs Neville had walked up to where the corridor split, to the right there was a kitchen, directly ahead was a living room and to the left there were stairs going up to the second floor. Harry was taken aback by the fact that the layout was exactly the same as his parent's house. When Harry walked into the living room it was to see Neville sitting on the sofa with his Grandmothers wand in his hand as he looked absentmindedly around the room.

It felt like Alice and Frank were going to walk back in at any moment, like they'd just stepped out to get some groceries. The only way that showed the amount of time that had passed since they had left the house for the last time was the photographs on the mantelpiece. They were similar to the photographs in the hall but they were mostly of Neville. The pictures showed Neville as a baby, Neville sitting up for the first time, crawling for the first time, walking for the first time, then there were photographs of his 1st birthday and they stopped after that. Harry couldn't help but think of how the mantelpiece should have looked; there should have been pictures of Neville's first time on a broom, of all of his birthdays, of his first day at Hogwarts, of him before the Yule Ball, a picture of him and Hannah. Harry sighed and turned to his friend, 'Shall I do it?'

Neville only gave Harry a nod and held the wand out for him to take. Harry did so and holding Augusta's wand at arm's length in his left hand Harry readied his own wand and his right hand and being careful to use the correct arm movement he said, 'Priori Incantatem!'

Neville had never seen this as Harry had and he watched in amazement as smoke began to come out of the wand, it seemed like a cloud at first but it began to twist and form a shape, the shape of Neville's Grandmother. When the smoke was finished forming there stood an eerily familiar figure in front of them. She was looking behind her with fear on her face and cast a spell behind her, 'Avada Keda-' but she could not finish the partial spell and the smoke vanished instantly.

'Harry...' Neville said slowly, unable to believe what he had just seen for a moment, he was left speechless. Harry had seen it before but it still gave him shivers, he placed the wand back in its case on the table.

'Your Grandmother was definitely murdered Neville.' Harry said, normally he would feel guilty for being the bearer of bad news but they had suspected as much already, this merely confirmed their hunch. Neville was silent so Harry gave him a moment to recover, as he did this he walked around the room and his eyes were drawn to one particular picture on the mantelpiece. Harry couldn't resist picking the picture up, he was amazed by it. It was a picture of his parents wedding. Just like in Frank and Alice's wedding photo the bride and groom stood in the centre. To the right of James stood his laughing best man, Sirius, and next to Padfoot stood Remus smiling fondly at his best friend in a way that confirmed what Harry had always suspected about his Godfather and his Professor. Anger bubbled in Harry as he saw Pettigrew standing next to Remus in the photo, had he already been on Voldemorts side when this was taken? Was he already plotting to kill his best friends? Pushing these thoughts out of his mind he looked to the bridesmaids to the left of Lily. Just like in the other picture Marlene McKinnon was there and right by Lily's side was Alice, they had clearly been best friends. The 3rd person was the same woman he'd seen in Alice and Franks wedding photo, at first glance he hadn't recognised her but it was clearer in this picture who she was. Her hair wasn't as big as it was now and she didn't have her crazy bug-eye glasses yet, but it was Sybil Trelawney and she looked around the same age as both Harry and Neville's parents. She looked almost normal as she smiled for the camera like everyone else, Harry couldn't believe she'd been friends with his parents.

'You can keep it, if you want.' Neville said from a spot close behind Harry, the boy-who-lived jumped, he'd been so lost in the photograph he'd momentarily forgotten about Neville. Harry turned around, still clutching the photo in his hands, 'Really?' He asked.

Neville nodded, even managing to muster a small smile, 'Yeah, I'm taking this one back to Hogwarts with me anyway.' He told Harry, holding up a picture to show him. Harry grinned broadly when he saw the picture it was a picture of he and Neville. They both looked extremely young, only months old because they couldn't even sit up yet. In the photograph they were both lying on their tummies facing the camera and they were holding hands with their tiny little hands, even Harry had to admit that it was cute; they looked like they could be brothers.

'I didn't realise,' Harry admitted as both he and Neville safely secured their photographs in their robes, 'that we lived so close together, that our parents were such close friends.'

'I did,' Neville said sheepishly, 'Grandma told me all about it when I was growing up, she showed me all of the pictures. My Mum was a Hufflepuff and even back then they had Herbology with the Gryffindors, that's how she met your Mum,' the two boys stopped after Neville had locked the door, Harry was intrigued, 'And my Dad was a Ravenclaw but he was a bit of a prankster so he was always close with the Marauders.'

'Why didn't you tell me before?' Harry asked Neville curiously as the two friends walked down the garden path and out of the gate. Again Neville looked a little sheepish, 'You were the boy-who-lived, and I thought you'd think I was making it up so you'd think I was cool.'

Harry shook his head in exasperation, 'Don't be stupid,' he said to Neville, 'of course I'd have believed you.' They stopped before apparating partly because they both knew the conversation wasn't over and partly because they didn't know where they were going next.

'It makes you wonder though, doesn't it?' Harry asked sadly, looking from Neville's parents house to his parents ruined one, 'We might have grown up like brothers if things had happened differently.'

'We would have.' Neville said thoughtfully, his eyes also on the house with the blown apart roof, 'The night your parents died was horrible for the entire neighbourhood. Sirius turned up and realised what Pettigrew had done, he ran after him and by the time my Dad called Remus it was too late for him to stop Sirius. Apparently there was something between your Godfather and Remus,' Neville added, 'well so my Grandma said.'

Harry nodded, 'I suspected it for a while,' he admitted, 'ever since Sirius got back out of Azkaban, when they were reunited it seemed like more than the reunion of two close friends.' He seemed wistful at the thought of his Godfather and his old friend Remus, Neville picked up on this and continued with his story.

'My parents were on the scene with Remus straight away, you were crying really badly my Grandma said, so my parents and Remus calmed you down until Dumbledore arrived,' Neville never took his eyes off of the house while he spoke, 'They were talking about taking you in, raising you and me together, Remus said he loved the idea because it meant he could see you more. My Grandma said he wished he could have taken you in but he wasn't allowed because of his condition.'

Harry nodded; he understood that, he'd always understood that Remus would never have been allowed to raise him. Neville continued, 'Dumbledore arrived and the Aurors arrived and Sirius was arrested, everyone really fell apart after that. Dumbledore said that you could stay with us for the night until things calmed down and he could figure out what to do next,' Harry frowned, he'd assumed that he'd been taken to the Dursley's on the night of his parents death's.

'So my parents took you to our house and put you down in my cot with me,' Neville said, his voice starting to shake for the first time, 'then the Death Eaters showed up in the street outside to laugh at your parent's house and gloat. My Dad got so angry that he stormed out of the house and started to duel them, but he got hit and they started to torture him so my Mum went out to help and you know what happened from there.' Neville finished the story and wiped his eyes hurriedly, he was embarrassed, but Harry had seen him cry before.

'I didn't realise Neville, I'm sorry.' Harry said softly, placing a hand of comfort on Neville's shoulder. However it didn't help that Harry's comforting hand was shaking too, he'd never known that, there was so much about the night of his parent's death he hadn't known.

'I suppose we should just be grateful,' Neville said; his voice strong again, 'that the Aurors turned up before they could get into the house.' Harry nodded, managing a small smile, 'We're survivors Nev, we always have been.'

* * *

><p>'Draco, your hands...they're shaking.'<p>

Hermione was looking at Draco with a small frown of concern on her face as they stood in the cold morning air outside the most depressing looking place Hermione had ever seen.

The building was big and grey and dirty. The windows were coated in so much dirt and dust that you couldn't see through them. There was mud and grime everywhere. They stood outside the doors and Draco's hands were shaking uncontrollably.

'I never wanted to see him again,' Draco said, sounding unlike himself, 'I watched him walk away and as far as I was concerned that was the last time I ever had to see him again.'

'I know,' Hermione said softly, reaching out and taking his hands in hers to steady them and stop them from shaking, 'but this could help us find the man who killed Neville's Grandmother, if Harry's right and your Father helps us then surely this will be worth it.'

Draco closed his eyes and took a deep breath, when he opened them he looked better and he nodded at the Gryffindor, 'You're right.'

Hermione smiled encouragingly at him, 'Of course I'm right, I'm a Gryffindor.'

Draco laughed weakly, 'You Gryffindors, always trying to make me do the right thing.' He joked causing Hermione to smile more brightly, he was clearly better because he was insulting her, 'bloody lions.'

Keeping her hand in his Hermione led Draco through the front doors into a disgusting hallway infested with bugs and spiders; she made a face and followed Draco down dirty stairs that were damp and smelly. At the bottom they arrived in a narrow dingy badly lit corridor with 6 doors lined along it. Draco stopped at the door with the number '-4' on it and rapped twice hard.

The door opened and the man that answered looked like a shell of who he had once been. Lucius had cut his hair short and it was a dirty blonde, as if it hadn't been washed in days. He had stubble all over his face and he looked tired. He reeked of firewhiskey too_._

'Draco?' Lucius asked in disbelief, his eyes widened and he pulled his son in for a hug, Draco made a face and pulled back, 'You stink.' He said distastefully.

Lucius frowned and sniffed himself then made a face, 'Oh, I do seem to smell a little,' he agreed, it was then his eyes found Hermione and he asked, 'what's she doing here?'

'She's my girlfriend,' Draco said matter of factly, 'and she's here because she has to be, not because she wants to be, just like me.' Lucius didn't seem to have any idea what was going on so Hermione handed Draco some sober-up potion. Once Lucius had swallowed the potion in one gulp he started to see clear again and invited them into his one room flat.

The entire room had a damp problem and smelled terrible, there were clothes lying everywhere and empty bottles of firewhiskey littering the floor. Lucius grabbed his wand and with an embarrassed apology he cleared it all up and asked Draco and Hermione to take a seat.

'If it isn't to introduce me to your girlfriend, then why are you here?' Lucius asked Draco bitterly.

Draco replied, 'My friend lost someone close to them, and I want to find the man who did it.'

Lucius raised an eyebrow at his son as he poured himself a drink, 'And you think I can help?'

Draco didn't touch the drink his Father placed in front of him as he replied, 'Yes, the murderer is Antonin Dolohov.'

Lucius barked out a bitter laugh, 'Dolohov? Have fun finding him, he's been in the wind ever since the end of the war.'

Hermione sighed, their worst fear confirmed, she looked at Draco, 'So he is out there.' Draco nodded with a sympathetic look that made Lucius narrow his eyes at them both.

'Who did he kill?' Lucius asked casually as he drank deeply from his glass of firewhiskey.

'Augusta Longbottom.' Hermione replied, she wasn't afraid of Lucius, she never had been.

Lucius appeared thoughtful at this news but didn't say anything more about it. Draco and Hermione shared a glance and then Draco asked his Father, 'So, do you know where he is?'

'I don't know where anyone is.' Lucius said bitterly as he sat down on the pathetic excuse for a bed that was in his room. He lifted the sleeve of what had once been a white shirt but was now yellowing and ripped. On his arm right beneath the fading dark mark that Voldemort had branded him with was another mark, a different one. It was a bright red 'M' in the style of the Ministry of Magic.

'The second my foot falls on the land outside of this building it burns like the Cruciatus curse, tearing through my entire body,' Lucius spat, bitter and angry. Draco and Hermione were silent as Lucius drained his glass and smashed it down onto the table.

'I thought you were vouched for.' Hermione said, treading carefully, she didn't want to get on the bad side of Lucius when he was in a rage like this one.

'I was,' Lucius said, glaring at nothing in particular, 'but then your Mother,' he turned his gaze to Draco, 'filed for divorce and told the ministry all about how I beat her and I beat you and I was unstable.' He shook his head in exasperation.

Draco however grew angry at his Father's words, 'Every word she told the ministry was true,' he growled, standing up and pulling himself up to his full height, at which he was the same height as his Father, 'I remember your friends torturing me, I remember hearing her cry as you hit her, I remember you threatening to kill us on several occasions.'

'I loved her Draco, and I loved you!' Lucius hissed, grabbing his wand and advancing on Draco. The two men were geared for a duel, both with their wands tight in their hands but that wasn't going to get them anywhere or help anyone.

Hermione jumped in the middle of them making Lucius laugh bitterly and Draco shout at her, 'Hermione, get out the way!'

'No,' Hermione stated, glaring between them both, 'forget about the past for one second, stop being selfish pureblood pricks and think about someone else for a change!' she turned to Draco first, 'I know you hate him, but you promised to put it to rest and think about Neville, and you,' Hermione now turned her eyes towards Lucius, the man who had allowed her to be tortured in his house, 'You were never any good to anyone before but you can be now, I know you know where Dolohov is and you can help us find him and get justice for a poor old lady who fought for what she believed in, survived when countless others died only to be cruelly killed months after,' Hermione's eyes burned into Lucius's, willing him to have heart for once in his life, 'it won't redeem you for all you did in the war but it might just make you feel like you've done at least one good deed in your miserable, lonely life!'

Draco was speechless and had already put his wand away; Lucius was still aiming his at where Draco had been standing but purely because he was in a daze, not because he wanted to hurt anyone. Hermione crossed the room and grabbed his wand from him; she turned and walked back across the room to stand by Draco.

'That was amazing.' Draco whispered to her as Lucius sank down onto the bed, his eyes staring at the wall opposite him, but he wasn't seeing him, he was deep in thought.

Hermione sighed, 'I could have been better,' she said, as she put Lucius's wand down on the table and took Draco's hand; she doubted Lucius would speak now, 'I didn't find out where Dolohov is.'

Draco offered her a look of sympathy but it didn't help anything, especially not Neville who needed justice. Hermione and Draco made their way to the door and without saying a word to Lucius they opened it to leave. It was only when they were on the threshold that Lucius spoke, his voice low and quiet.

'The last I heard he was staying at the Leaky Cauldron.'

Draco and Hermione stopped and turned around, Hermione had hoped this would happen and shared a small smile of triumph with Draco, but he didn't notice he was too surprised, 'Is he really _that _stupid?'

Lucius didn't look away from the spot of the wall he was focused on, 'He thought if he hid in plain sight they'd never find him, he's shaved his facial hair off and cut his hair so no one recognises him and he's booked in under an alias.'

'Thank you.' Hermione said sincerely, they'd got what they needed and now it was time to leave but as they left the old dirty building Hermione didn't miss the looks of regret on Draco's face, this visit had changed things for him and his Father, he'd realised that already, but now he had to figure out what to do about it.

* * *

><p>When Hermione and Draco apparated back to the gates of Hogwarts they were met by a sign tacked to one of the walls saying 'meet at 3brooms'. Draco and Hermione chuckled and made their way into the three broomsticks where they immediately saw everyone else at a table at the back of the pub. The couple made their way over and sat down.<p>

'Did anyone get anything?' Hermione asked, gratefully accepting the butterbeer that Harry slid across to her. Draco chuckled as Harry handed him a firewhiskey and said, 'Thought you might need something stronger.'

'We didn't find anything at all,' Sadie said, sounding disappointed in herself, 'because Dolohov was sent to Azkaban after the first Wizarding War his records were destroyed, they only keep them for 10 years.' Theo grinned at Harry, 'But, we did find out something about Harry.'

Harry rolled his eyes; he knew where this was going. Theo continued with a smirk, 'the Miss. Chang, you told us to talk too? She's your ex-girlfriend, oh and the girl you had fling with all summer.'

Hermione gaped at Harry, 'Harry! Really? That's what you did the first few months after the battle when you were out all night?' Daphne sniggered and Harry replied sheepishly, 'It was only Cho and a few others Mione! It was before I got back together with Ginny.'

Hermione shook her head in disbelief at him, but before it could go any further Daphne cut in, 'And we had no luck asking around Hogsmeade either.' She admitted.

'Well, fortunately, we _did _have luck,' Harry informed the others, 'we recovered the last spell from Augusta's wand and she was trying to cast Avada Kedavra so we now know she was definitely murdered.'

'That's good to confirm, but we still don't know where he is.' Tracey said, stating what everyone else was thinking, well, almost everyone else.

'Yes we do.' Hermione said, sharing a smug grin with Draco who nodded and smiled, 'He's staying in the Leaky Cauldron under an alias and he's changed his appearance.'

'What an idiot.' Tracey said; shaking her head in disbelief, Sadie and Theo seemed to agree that it was stupid to hide out somewhere so obvious and public but the others understood it.

'I told you he'd be hiding in plain sight,' Harry said as he finished his butterbeer in one gulp and stood up, 'let's go get this bastard.'

* * *

><p>'Hey Tom.' Harry greeted casually as he walked into the leaky cauldron with Hermione. They had decided if they all went in it was bring attention to them and if Neville went in and Dolohov saw them he'd grow wise to their plan and flee so Harry was going in first with Hermione to figure out what room Dolohov was staying in.<p>

'Mr. Potter!' Tom greeted, hurrying over to Harry, 'what can I get you and your lady friend? A drink on the house? A room, on the house?'

Harry smiled and shook his head, 'All I need is to see your guest list.'

Usually this would be a hard thing to come by but Harry knew Tom would pretty much do anything for him, he was one of those people who had adored Harry before the war and even more now he'd defeated Voldemort for good.

'Of course.' Tom said, leading them into a little room behind the bar and showing them a book of names. He left them to have a look while he went to tend the bar and Harry and Hermione both searched the page for anything unusual.

'There!' Hermione realised, alerting Harry with a loud whisper. Harry looked to where her finger was pointing; he frowned and read the name aloud, 'Bruce Dickinson.'

Hermione nodded, 'Dolohov is half-blood,' she explained, 'and Bruce Dickinson is the lead singer of a heavy metal band called-'

'Iron Maiden,' Harry finished, looking at Hermione in surprise, '_You_ like Iron Maiden?'

Hermione blushed deeply and shrugged, 'How do _you _know about Maiden?'

'Dudley.' Harry said simply then glanced back down at the book, 'According to this Dolohov, or Dickinson, whatever, is in room 2C.'

'The number of the beast.' Hermione muttered and Harry groaned, 'I don't know whether to be amused that you know the band that well or exasperated at how bad a pun that was.'

'So what do we do now?' Hermione asked quietly as she and Harry made their way out of the room, thanked Tom and left the bar. Once outside in Muggle London Harry addressed everyone, 'Alright, two of us go in through the pub, but no more than that.'

'We'll go in from the roof.' Draco said, referring to him and Theo. His fellow Slytherin nodded, 'We can climb up to it from the Diagon Alley side of the pub.'

'Alright,' Harry agreed, 'Neville and I will go in through the pub. Can you five keep guard out here? Two on this side and three on the Diagon Alley side?'

Daphne, Hermione, Hannah, Sadie and Tracey nodded but Daphne added, 'But if we hear a scream or a shout for help we rush in.'

'Deal.' Harry said, looking at Neville, 'You ready?'

Neville looked up with determination burning brightly in his eyes, 'I'm ready.'

The group split up and once everyone was in position it began. Harry and Neville made their way up to the room Dolohov was staying in and waited for 10 seconds, the amount of time Draco had said it would take for them to catch up and be ready outside the windows.

Sharing a glance Harry and Neville reached the count of 10 and burst the door down. At the exact same moment Theo and Draco smashed through the two windows to the room. Dolohov was caught by complete surprise in the middle of it all and was hit by 4 stunners at the same time. He didn't stand a chance and he fell down with a loud crash. The 4 boys shared grins, Slytherins and Gryffindors had never before worked so well together, it was like a different world.

* * *

><p>'Wow Potter, nice house.' Daphne said as the group apparated to the doorstep of number 12 Grimmauld place with Dolohov being carried by Draco, Theo and Neville. They'd bound him up magically so he couldn't escape.<p>

Hermione laughed, 'You won't say that once you've seen the inside, it's more like 22 Acacia Avenue.' Only Harry understood the pun and chuckled as he walked into the corridor and turned the lights on with a flick of his wand. There was a lot of coughing and sneezing as the group walked up the dusty corridor into the wider section of the hallway where they could all stand together.

'Where should we take him?' Neville asked, Dolohov was a big guy and he was heavy even with all 3 boys carrying him.

Harry paused for a moment and then looked behind him at the open door to the kitchen, 'Through here.' He said, leading the group into the large kitchen. Between them they got Dolohov in a chair, binding him to it so there was no way he could so much as move one of his fingers.

'Is everyone ready?' Harry asked, looking around the group. Hannah was the only one looking a little pale, everyone else was fine with capturing and questioning a Death Eater. With nods from all round Harry said, 'Remember, this is a matter of life and death, if he moves stun him.' The others all nodded sincerely but Hermione rolled her eyes at the pun. Harry grinned, 'That wasn't even intentional.' He said honestly and then he pointed his wand at Dolohov and said, 'Enervate!'

He started to stir instantly and when he opened his eyes it took him a moment to figure out what had happened and where he was, then he remembered he'd been attacked and captured by a bunch of school kids. They had a plan already hatched so Draco and Harry held Dolohov's mouth open while Daphne poured Veritaserum down his throat. Harry winked at Hermione, 'No more lies.' Hermione groaned the terrible pun. Dolohov made a choking noise but then seemed to be alright and Harry and Neville took charge with the interrogation.

'Are you Antonin Dolohov?'

'Yes.'

'Are you a Death Eater?'

'Yes.'

'Are you still loyal to Voldemort?'

'Yes.'

With the standard questions out of the way Harry stepped back to allow Neville to ask the more personal questions.

'Did you murder my Grandmother, Augusta Longbottom?'

'Yes.' Dolohov replied and Harry could see that Neville wanted to kill him, his wand hand twitched, but he knew that his fellow Gryffindor wasn't that stupid, he would turn Dolohov over, and he'd still get his revenge.

'Did you get that Hermione?' Harry asked, turning to his friend who nodded with a triumphant smile, 'Got it.' Hermione had used a spell that acted as the Wizarding version of a tape recorder, all she needed to do was say the incantation, and then the code for the recording and it would magically come out of her wand. They had their proof for the ministry but they knew that they would take Dolohov and put him in Azkaban anyway; he was a known and wanted Death Eater.

'You used the killing curse on her and then you broke her neck with your bare hands and pushed her down the stairs to make it look accidental. Correct?' Neville asked, angry and bitter and understandably so.

'Yes.' Dolohov said; his eyes unfocused as the potion effected on him. Hermione showed her thumb to say that she was still recording.

'That's all we need.' Neville said, turning around and leaving the room, Hannah followed him and the others gave him time to recover.

'Well, the potion worked a trick.' Harry said happily and Daphne grinned, 'Thanks, brewed it myself.'

'So, now we take him to the ministry and hand him over.' Harry said, casually turning around and stunning Dolohov again when he called Hermione a mudblood.

'Mission accomplished.' Daphne said, opening the cupboards and looking around the kitchen, 'Man I'm starving, don't you keep food at your place?'

Harry rolled his eyes, 'I don't know if you noticed but it's a dark magic dump site, I don't tend to spend a great amount of time here.'

'Really?' Daphne asked sarcastically, 'I could have sworn it was a palace.' Harry cracked a smile at that then clicked his fingers and shouted, 'Kreacher!'

With a loud crack the house-elf appeared looking as best groomed as he ever had. With a smile Kreacher bowed to Harry, 'What would Master Harry be liking for Master Harry's nice friends?'

Harry smiled fondly at his house-elf, 'We've got a quick errand to run at the Ministry of Magic,' Harry informed his elf, 'but while we're away could you start dinner for 9?'

Kreacher nodded, 'Of course. Would Master like Masters favourite meal of steak pie and treacle tart?'

Harry grinned, 'That would be perfect Kreacher,' he said happily, 'oh and would you mind cleaning the kitchen up a little?'

Kreacher happily said that he would not mind at all and with that vanished to get supplies for dinner. Harry turned to the others, most of them weren't surprised that he had a house-elf because they were all pureblood. Harry knew Draco had lost his house-elf a few years ago but he was almost certain that Theo, Daphne, Tracey and Sadie all had house-elves.

'Alright, time to rid the world of another Death Eater.' Harry said, clapping his hands together, he, together with the other two boys in the room managed to get Dolohov out of the air and carried him out of the kitchen into the hallway where Hannah and Neville were awaiting them. Hannah had obviously done something to calm Neville down because he was smiling again and when the other boys reached him he helped them carry Dolohov out of the house.

'You know, I realised today that we work well together under pressure,' Theo said to the other 3 boys who nodded their agreement.

'Who would have thought Gryffindors and Slytherins would make such a good team?' Harry asked jokingly sharing a grin with Draco.

'I enjoyed today,' Neville admitted, 'hunting down bad guys and making them pay, its fun, and it's rewarding.'

Draco nodded his agreement, 'I wanted to be an Auror before, and I want it even more now, it's a pity I'm an ex-Death Eater.'

Harry waved his hand, 'Meh, minor detail. You're friends with Harry Potter; you'll become an Auror if you want to be.'

Draco wasn't entirely sure if Harry was being serious but he smiled and thanked him anyway.

'Can you imagine that?' Theo asked with a grin, 'Potter, Longbottom, Malfoy and Nott,' his voice was very theatrical, 'Gryffindors and Slytherins working together to rid the Wizarding world of all evil.'

The other 3 boys laughed and Neville said, 'We'd make the best team of Aurors the Wizarding world had ever seen.' The other three agreed as they left the old dingy house. It had begun as a joke but that joke had planted a seed in all 4 of their heads, they really would make a great team of Aurors. Today had proven that they worked well together; it had proven that they could catch killers _without _training and it had shown them all how much they would enjoy being Aurors. Maybe one day Harry thought with a smile.

'Well, we've all got one thing in common.' Harry said as they reached the spot outside where the others were waiting.

'What's that?' Neville asked curiously as Hermione watched the scene from the sidelines. Harry shot Hermione a grin as he said, 'Because of the way all of our families were hurt in the wars, you could say we're the children of the damned.' Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry but the other 3 boys agreed with him, they didn't realise he was trying to get under Hermione's skin with song titles, because really, it was true. Their families had all been torn apart by the war; they'd all lost parents and loved ones.

Once they had left Grimmauld place they put Dolohov down next to Hermione who was best at side-along apparition and they all spun and vanished from sight on route to the ministry of magic.

* * *

><p>'Dinner is served.'<p>

Harry joked as the food appeared on the long kitchen table from the basement below. As at Hogwarts Kreacher prepared the food downstairs and it was magically sent up to the kitchen table.

Kreacher had outdone himself this time with two large steak pies and a keg of butterbeer. It was Saturday night and they didn't have school to worry about the next morning, just Quidditch practice so they decided to have a late night at Grimmauld place and actually use the sordid old house for a change.

The table had been set for 9, 4 on each side and Harry at the head of the table. They all talked happily as they ate about how the day had gone well, how they'd gotten what they wanted from it. The ministry had taken Dolohov and given him life in Azkaban with the possibility of a dementors kiss so everyone was in high spirits; Dolohov was definitely going to get his comeuppance. Karma was a bitch.

'Technically this will be yours soon,' Harry said to Draco over dinner, motioning around him at the house. Draco frowned and asked Harry what he meant by that. Harry replied, 'Well you're going to be Draco Black once the papers are legalised, aren't you?'

'Yes...' Draco said slowly, still not seeing Harry's point. Harry elaborated, 'And this is Black Manor.'

'Is it?' Draco asked in surprise, he hadn't realised that.

Harry nodded and swallowed a chunk of steak, 'I don't understand why Sirius got it instead of anyone in your family.' He frowned; he'd never understood how the Manor had fallen into Sirius's hands.

Draco took a sip of butterbeer, 'Oh it's all very complicated. I'm sure you're aware that in Muggle Royal families there are laws of succession. It's the same in pureblood families.' Harry asked Draco to elaborate so the Slytherin rolled his eyes, 'Your Godfather's Great-Grandfather had 4 brothers and sisters. His Father was descended through the oldest sibling and his Mother was descended through the 3rd oldest sibling, the 2nd oldest was disowned for supporting Muggle rights. My Mother is descended through the 3rd sibling but because your Godfathers Father was descended through the eldest he is the heir to everything.'

Harry shook his head as he tried to get that straight in his mind, 'Pureblood families are so complicated.'

'And so inbred.' Daphne said with a chuckle, 'I can tell you right now that almost everyone in this room is related.'

Hermione laughed, 'This is when I don't mind being Muggle-born.' She said jokingly and Hannah joined in with her laughter, 'Well, I'm a Half-blood and my Mother was a Muggle-born, so I'm out already.'

The remainder looked around each other in amusement. Harry chuckled, 'Well, I'm a half-blood too.'

'But you're related to all of us through your Father.' Daphne said, 'and technically you're a Black because you're the heir to the Black family.'

'Which makes you related to me for sure,' Draco said, looking thoughtful for a moment, 'if we treat it like your Godfather was your Father then you and I are second cousins. We're also related through the Peverell family line.'

'My Mother is the sister of Rabastan Lestrange.' Sadie piped up, 'but she was disowned for running away from her marriage contract.'

'So that makes Sadie and I cousins because Rabastan's brother Rodolphus married Bellatrix.' Draco said, he'd known that beforehand anyway but he was sure Daphne was right about them all being related in some way.

'And because I'm related to Draco I'm distantly related to you too Harry.' Sadie said with a laugh at the expression on Harry's face.

'We're related to you too Neville,' Draco said, surprising the Gryffindor, 'Our Great Great-Grandfather's brother's daughter married your Great-Grandfather so we're fourth cousins, or something like that.'

Neville looked bewildered and said, 'I didn't think I'd had _that _much butterbeer.'

'Technically that distantly relates and I too Neville.' Sadie said with a laugh at the look of complete bemusement.

'And you're my second cousin Neville,' Theo added, just to confuse the poor boy more, 'Because we have the same Great-Grandparents. My Grandmother and your Grandfather on your Father's side were brother and sister.'

Neville poured himself more butterbeer as Hermione and Hannah shook with laughter next to him, they were finding this hilarious.

'That makes me related to you guys too, fourth cousin again, I think.' Theo said to Harry and Draco as he knocked back his 6th butterbeer of the night, and the first course wasn't even over yet.

'Tracey and I are second cousins,' Daphne piped up with a smile to her best friend, 'We have the same Grandparents, like Neville and Theo.'

Tracey added, 'And Daphne and I's Great-Grandmother is the sister of Neville and Theo's Great-Grandmother which makes you guys our 3rd cousins.'

Neville just shook his head and continued with his mission to finish an entire keg of butterbeer on his own, Theo was already doing pretty well on that mission and didn't seem to hear or care about who he was related to or how.

'I'm related to you all distantly,' Daphne said to the group as a whole, excluding Hermione and Hannah who were increasingly amused by this conversation, 'Sadie, Draco and you, Potter, are my third cousins.'

Harry made a face, 'That is _so _wrong and incestuous,' he went to the cupboard behind the table and pulled out an old bottle of firewhiskey, 'I think we need it,' he joked as he poured it out into glasses.

Harry realised that what Daphne had said meant that Tracey was also third cousins with both he, Draco, Theo and Sadie.

Sadie laughed as she said, 'I'm a pureblood and I'm dating my third cousin.'

There was laughter all around the table as Daphne put on her best 'actress voice' and said, 'I'm a pureblood and I'm sleeping with my third cousin.'

Hermione and Hannah couldn't contain their laughter. Tracey said, 'Well my boyfriend's a Muggle-born so the incest ends here for me.'

Neville finished yet another butterbeer and said to Hannah, 'Have I ever mentioned how much I love the fact you're not pureblood?' Hannah continued to chuckle as the slightly tipsy boy kissed her.

Draco grinned, sharing in Neville's amusement, 'I'm proud to say that I'm going to end the family tradition of marrying my cousins.' He grinned at Hermione who was sitting next to him and shared a kiss with her.

Hermione and Hannah raised their glasses and said together, 'Muggle-born pride, woohoo!' There was even more laughter around the table as Harry offered everyone another drink. He had the feeling it was going to be a good night.

_TBC _

_A/N: This chapter has 5 references to Iron Maiden songs in it! If you got them all then you are totally awesome! Oh and as for the whole relations bit at the end, wow, I slaved for hours over that part! I got a real family tree and tried to figure out how all the ones we know about are related (Draco, Harry & Theo) then I added in Daphne, Sadie and Tracey to the tree and figured out how they were all related so hopefully I got it as accurate as possible and didn't mess up! It was so hard to figure out especially considering how incestuous the Black family is!_


	21. Sick Little Games

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 21 – Sick Little Games**

Quidditch practice at 9am on Sunday morning had not been fun. Harry and Neville had turned up both extremely hung-over. Neville missed every single bludger that came his way and Harry could hardly see the snitch. The rest of the team did their best without the two players, and truthfully they found it amusing.

Ginny teased Harry as she sped past him on her broom, 'Come on Harry, catch me.'

Harry glared at her and she laughed wickedly throwing the quaffle to Natalie McDonald, 'Potter, the snitch is by your head.' The girl said, she was in Ginny's year. Harry hopelessly swiped for the snitch but he swiped to the wrong side and toppled a little and had to steady himself on his broom. Ginny and Natalie shared laughter as Natalie threw the quaffle to the 3rd chaser, Dennis Creevey. Dennis still adored Harry too much to tease him so he threw the quaffle towards the goalposts where his brother who was the new Keeper with Ron gone, caught it with his expert reflexes.

Further up the pitch Neville was hovering near the ground with Dean keeping an eye on him, 'Blood hell Nev, how much did you drink last night?' Dean chuckled at his friend and Neville groaned, 'Too much.' He replied simply, his head was pounding.

Eventually the team made it through practice and Harry and Neville couldn't be more relieved, they couldn't wait to get back to their beds. When the two boys trudged into the common room they'd expected to meet the Slytherin team in the doorway as they usually did, but this time no one came.

Harry frowned when he saw Draco lounging on the sofa in the common room, 'Don't you have Quidditch practice now?' he asked with a yawn.

Draco shook his head, 'Nope,' he replied, '4 of the Slytherin team are hung-over,' he said with a chuckle, 'thanks to your extra strength firewhiskey, and I really can't be bothered so I cancelled practice.'

Harry laughed and said, 'Remember that when we kick your ass at the end of the month.' He heard Draco make a comment about how they'd be kicking the Gryffindors asses as he made his way up to his dorm room to curl up in bed and sleep the rest of the day away.

* * *

><p>Reality was restored by Monday morning after a lazy day of sleeping off hang-over's the day before. The group were laughing about Saturday night as they made their way into the great hall and took their seats at the 8th year table.<p>

'Neville, you were dancing on the table.' Harry said as he and the others laughed, Neville and Hannah had been the worst. Theo had been the one who drunk the most, closely followed by Draco, but they'd been the two who'd been the least hung-over the next day. Draco had made fun of them all and said that Slytherins could hold their liquor unlike Gryffindors. Harry agreed with him, he knew he couldn't hold his liquor.

'Silence, please!'

The hall fell silent as McGonagall stood up at the head table to make an announcement. She smiled around at the students, 'I would like to inform you all that for the first time in 18 years Hogwarts will hold a Halloween Ball,' this statement was met with lots of excited whispering as teenage girls all over the hall shared looks and glances, 'this ball will be themed which means everyone has the option to wear fancy dress,' there was even more excited whispering, 'the Ball will be held on Friday the 31st of October from 7pm to midnight. It is for 4th years and above.' this sent grumbles and groans around the hall from the students younger than 4th year.

McGonagall thanked them for listening and sat back down again causing the 8th year table to explode with chatter.

'A Halloween Ball! How cool is that?' Sadie said to the others who seemed to agree, but Harry had to admit, his mind was elsewhere.

'It hasn't been held for 18 years,' Harry said quietly to Neville, 'the same amount of time my parents have been dead.' Neville looked up at the look of pain on Harry's face, 'It says in 'Hogwarts: A History' that Dumbledore stopped the Halloween balls after your parents died, as a mark of respect.'

Harry nodded, it made sense, he didn't realise Neville's hand was on his shoulder until the other Gryffindor squeezed it a little, 'I'm sure McGonagall doesn't mean anything by it, I think it's part of her plan to raise moral and encourage house unity.'

Harry knew that McGonagall hadn't meant anything by it; he just found it a little hard to deal with. He took a deep breath and turned to the conversation the others were having. Only Daphne noticed that his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Until the end of breakfast everyone talked about what it would be like, speculated on whether it would be similar to the Yule Ball and so on. The girls had already started to talk about their outfits.

Harry was fairly quiet and pretended to be busy reading the Daily Prophet while they discussed it. The group got up from breakfast and began to make their way towards their first class which was Potions.

'We should all go to Hogsmeade on Saturday and get our outfits,' Hermione suggested to the others who all agreed that it was a good idea, but Harry remained fairly quiet.

'So, what do you say Hermione, be my date?' Draco asked Hermione seriously once they were outside the classroom. Hermione grinned, 'Why of course Draco.' She said, kissing him lightly on the lips and chuckling. Tracey was standing nearby with Dean and they also agreed to go together, which was natural as they were dating.

'Sadie, think you can put up with me in public like that?' Theo asked teasingly and Sadie laughed and kissed him, 'Yes Theo, I will be your date.' She said happily.

Harry smiled at the exchanges between his friends, he'd be going to the ball alone, but he was happy that everyone else had someone to accompany them.

'Hey Potter, want to be my date?' Daphne asked as she snuck up behind him. Harry had been lost in his thoughts and jumped when he heard the Slytherins voice, he turned to face her, she was smiling, 'just for one night.'

Harry laughed, 'What do I get if I say yes?' He asked in a whisper.

Daphne smirked and whispered something in his ear that caused Harry to raise an eyebrow at her, 'Really?' Daphne nodded, still smiling, 'Uh-huh.'

'In that case I'm inclined to say that I guess I'll have you, just for one night of course.' Harry joked with a smile at the girl. She was his friend, she was his friend with benefits, but he still wanted so much more from her. Things were different between them, things were better; it was as if she was really starting to develop feelings for him so for now Harry still held out hope.

'Are you okay?'

It was the first thing that Draco asked when he and Harry had set their cauldrons up and started working on their potions. Harry knew that Draco had seen he was upset and he assumed that the Slytherin knew why so he didn't try to hide it from him.

Harry shrugged, 'I will be.' He said honestly.

'I know your parents died on Halloween,' Draco said quietly and Harry swallowed hard, 'sorry.' Draco added, feeling like an idiot for making it worse.

Harry just shook his head, but he didn't say anything, not right away. After a moment of Harry frustratingly slicing beetles up he said, 'It was just a shock, that's all, but I'll be fine. Daphne asked me to the ball.'

Draco watched as Harry smiled at the thought of Daphne, 'You're falling in love with her Harry,' Draco stated, he didn't ask, he stated, 'I don't want to see you get hurt when she says she doesn't want anything more.' Draco sighed; he was just looking out for his friend.

'If that's what she decides then I'll be fine with that,' Harry informed Draco as he threw some armadillo bile into his potion, 'I'm a big boy Draco, I can handle a little heartbreak.' Draco knew Harry well enough to know when to stop and leave him alone so with a nod he left the subject there and got back to brewing his potion.

* * *

><p>By the time Saturday rolled around Harry had gotten over the fact there would be a ball on the anniversary of his parents deaths. This was due to a comforting word from Hermione, Daphne telling him to grow a pair and Neville informing him that it was the anniversary of a bad night for his parents too but he was still looking forward to the ball. Now that he had pulled himself out of his rut he was actually looking forward to the ball a great deal.<p>

'So Potter, what are we going as?' Daphne asked Harry as they walked down the snowy path to Hogsmeade. Everyone was split into couples which left Daphne and Harry as the only 'singles' so they had been talking a lot more lately. It made sense to go together, as friends, just for one night.

Harry had been thinking about that all week and he had a few ideas, 'Vampires,' he said teasingly, 'I could suck your blood.' Daphne raised an eyebrow at him and he laughed causing her to shake her head in amusement, 'Vampires could be cool though, do you think I'd make a hot Vampire countess?'

'Definitely,' Harry replied honestly, adding, 'Daph you'd make a hot anything.' Daphne laughed, 'Oh Potter, I'm blushing.' She teased as they reached the end of the path where the others were huddled and waiting for them.

'We'll split up to get our costumes for the ball and meet back at the Three Broomsticks at 3?' Draco asked the others who agreed on the time and split up into little groups. Neville and Hannah had been hatching a secret plan for their outfits with Blaise and Luna so the 4 of them wandered off in one direction. Draco and Hermione were also secretly planning something and they headed off up a side alley which left Harry, Daphne, Theo, Sadie, Tracey and Dean standing at the entrance to the village.

'What are you guys thinking of going as?' Harry asked the group as a whole as they made their way through the village.

'Vampires.' Sadie and Tracey said at the same time making Daphne and Harry laugh, 'That's what we were thinking of going as.' He told them.

'We should all go as Vampire couples!' Sadie suggested and Tracey nodded, her eyes widening, 'We'll all pick different costumes but we can all be Vampire couples!'

'That would be pretty cool.' Dean said, agreeing with his girlfriend who beamed at him. Theo grinned, 'I'm up for doing it Vampire style.' He said winking at Sadie who blushed a deep red. The others laughed and decided that the best place to look would be the old thrift store, if they found old dresses and suits they could do the make-up and hair with magic.

When the little group walked into the shop Harry smiled at the elderly woman who worked there, he'd met her before when Hermione had dragged him into the shop, she liked it here.

'Hermione dear, you brought friends.' The little old lady said with a smile, 'what can I do for you?'

Hermione grinned at the woman, 'We're looking for costumes for the Halloween Ball, Hogwarts is holding it again for the first time in 18 years.'

The woman nodded, smiling, 'Oh I remember those Balls, they had them every year when I was a young student, all the costumes and dancing,' her face fell a little and darkened, 'but then of course those poor people were murdered and the dances stopped.'

Harry's eyes found the floor, he wasn't sure why this whole Halloween ball thing was making him so emotional, it was pathetic, he felt like a girl. Thankfully the elderly lady said no more about Harry's parents and started to look through dresses and tuxes from different eras. Hoping no one had noticed his little meltdown Harry looked up and smiled and shopped with the others and laughed and joked and no one was any the wiser, or so he thought. Daphne had seen it all and sighed sadly, she'd tried to cheer her friend up all week and although most of the time he was fine there were moments when it got too much. She was glad she'd decided to ask him to the ball, she had a feeling he was going to need a friend.

'Dean, this is so us!' Tracey called from where she was buried under a pile of dresses in a corner of the little shop; Dean laughed and rolled his eyes in the direction of Draco and Theo as he walked over to his girlfriend. Tracey emerged from the pile of clothes holding a dress in one hand and a tux in the other. Both were black and purple and Dean had to admit, they were pretty awesome and very much what Vampires would have worn. The dress had a black skirt with purple trim; the bodice was again largely black with purple trimming the edges and a purple strip down the back where it tied together. The tux Tracey was holding up consisted of black trousers and a white shirt with a long black overcoat, the collar of which was purple velvet.

'Perfect.' Dean admitted to Tracey who squealed, 'I can't wait!' Before the others had even found an outfit Tracey and Dean had picked out purple velvet gloves to go with Tracey's dress and a black and purple top hat to go with Dean's tux.

'Oooh, Theo, how about this?' Sadie asked from behind a rack of dresses, she coughed a little as she pulled the dress from its box, it definitely needed cleaned if she was to wear it to the ball, but it was perfect, she could just see herself in it. Theo who had been sitting playing pocket chess with Harry looked up and realised he'd have to go over and look at what she'd found. Harry sniggered as Theo trudged across the shop to his girlfriend.

'Wow.' Theo said, blown away by the dress that Sadie had picked out. It was a ball-gown with a fairly large skirt and it was in black and red. The skirt had a red centre with black up the sides and at the back. The bodice was again red and black, red in the centre and black on the edges. The neckline was square and the dress had long sleeves that turned to lace at the elbow. Theo could see his girlfriend in the dress; he could see her looking amazing in it.

'You like it?' Sadie asked with a grin. Theo nodded, 'Love it.' Sadie's grin widened, 'I think I found something for you too.' She said, ducking down and vanishing from sight as she pulled a tux out of the same box and held it up for Theo to see. The trousers were black and there was a black overcoat with a high red velvet collar and red cuffs with the same colour lace as Sadie's sleeves. There was a red and black vest and a grey ruffled collar that again matched the colour of the lace. It was very old-fashioned and cool; he thought they'd make very hot Vampires.

'You are brilliant Sadie.' Theo said with a grin, leaning over the clothes to kiss his girlfriend, 'We're going to be the hottest Vampires Hogwarts has ever seen.' Sadie laughed, 'Oh I don't know, I think Daphne and Harry might upstage us.' Theo made a face, 'How many four-eyed Vampires have you seen?'

'Oi!' Harry shouted with a mock glare to Theo who just laughed. From her spot behind a large pile of dresses Daphne said, 'I think the glasses are hot.' She shot Harry a wink and he grinned in amusement. He didn't quite know how his friend circle had changed so quickly and so much but he was glad it had. Theo managed to help with the costume hunt a little because he found a red velvet collar for Sadie and a black hat with a velvet strip for himself. He couldn't wait until the night of the ball now, with their hair and make-up all done, they would look amazing.

'We're going to head back to the Three Broomsticks.' Tracey informed the others once they'd bought their outfits, Sadie and Theo who were also done said they'd go with them and meet Harry and Daphne back at the pub so they left and Daphne and Harry were left alone in the little shop.

'How long does it find to take an outfit Daphne?' Harry asked in exasperation as he appeared behind her by one of the shelves. Daphne glared at him, 'For your information Potter I had just found something promising. Do you want to win the best costume prize or not?'

'There's a best costume prize?' Harry asked, completely clueless. Daphne rolled her eyes and pulled a dress out of the box, 'So, what do you think?'

Harry thought it had been worth the wait, the outfit she'd picked was perfect. It was black and red like Sadie's dress but it was in a completely different style. The skirt was floor-length but from mid-calf it was see-through black lace. The middle of the skirt was red and the outside black like Sadie's. It gave the impression that it was a dress with a cape over the top. The red centre was silk and the black outer part of the dress was velvet. The bodice could be tightened with black string pulled over red silk in a criss-crossed pattern. Daphne was going to look so good in this dress. Like Sadie's the sleeves were long and from the elbow there was the same black lace that lined the bottom of the dress.

'I think it's perfect and that I'm going to look like I'm dressed as a potato standing next to you.' Harry told Daphne making her grin and pull out Harry's outfit from the box, 'Not in this.' She said and Harry gaped at the outfit she'd chosen for him. Like the other boys the trousers were just plain black but then there was a white shirt with a red tie and a red velvet vest over the top of it. The cape was what did it though, it was black on the outside but the inside was entirely red velvet and it had the perfect Vampire style high collar.

'We're luxurious pureblood Vampires.' Harry said with a grin and Daphne laughed, 'That was the vision.' She teased with a smirk. Harry wanted to kiss her so badly, but he didn't know where the boundaries were anymore so he didn't, instead he thanked her for picking out such perfect outfits and said, 'And since you did all the hard work, I'll pay.' Daphne smiled, 'Aren't you a gentleman?' She said brightly as Harry put the outfits back in the box and made his way over to the counter to pay for them. This was what he loved about little thrift stores like this one, you found some real gems if you looked hard enough and you got them for a damn good price. Since Harry had paid for the outfits Daphne picked up a black collar with a red centre gem for herself and a black cane with a silver top for Harry insisting that he couldn't wear a hat like the others because of his strange shaped head.

With their outfits bought and bagged Daphne and Harry made their way back to the rendezvous point at the Three Broomsticks where they realised they were the last ones back. When the duo sat down Draco slid two butterbeers across to them and asked how they'd gotten on.

'We got perfect outfits in the end,' Harry said, leaving it there and not giving anymore away, 'did everyone else get what they needed?'

Draco and Hermione shared a grin, 'We got what we were looking for.' They said happily and although Blaise and Luna had departed Neville and Hannah said the four of them had gotten what they needed too but no one was discussing outfits, it was going to be a surprise for the night of the ball.

'Oh Draco, I meant to ask, how was your Father when you saw him last week?' Neville asked as the group sipped butterbeer in the warm pub.

Draco shrugged, 'Not good,' he said honestly, 'he'd been drinking and he's confined to one room with a damp problem, the ministry have branded him so they know if he's leaving the house.'

'I know, I read it in the Prophet,' Neville said sympathetically, he wasn't entirely sure how Draco got on with his Father, but then again Draco wasn't even sure about that anymore.

'There was an article about him in the Prophet?' Draco asked with a frown, he'd taken to reading the first couple of pages and nothing after that, it was all boring house-witch gossip these days.

'Uh, yeah,' Tracey said as if she couldn't believe Draco didn't know, 'it was all about his many conquests.'

Draco laughed a little bitterly, 'Yeah, I can believe that, I always heard him bringing other woman back to the Manor.'

'He's had some pretty high-profile affairs.' Sadie said, apparently everyone had read this article apart from Draco. Hermione nodded, 'I know! I couldn't believe it when I read it, is Lareina Greengrass your Mum Daphne?'

Daphne laughed and nodded, 'Yep, my Mother and Father never had a happy marriage, it was a marriage contract so they didn't have a choice. Lucius and my Mother had an affair before Draco and I were born.'

'He got my Mum too,' Sadie said with a chuckle, 'they dated when she was in 7th year at Hogwarts, he was a lot older than her.'

'Yep, and my Mum too,' Tracey added, rolling her eyes, 'like you said Daph, they were a typical pureblood arranged marriage so they were never happy. Lucius and my Mum had an affair when Draco and I were young.'

'Wow Draco your Dad gets around.' Harry joked and Draco made a face, 'He's a disgusting old pervert.' The others all laughed and Hermione said, 'There were a few other familiar names on the list, Pippa Parkinson and Zara Zabini.'

'It really wouldn't surprise me if they were all true.' Draco admitted, shaking his head, Hermione was both amused and disgusted at his Father's behaviour.

'What a guy.' Harry joked with a laugh and while most of the people found it funny, one person didn't.

'It isn't funny, or clever, or cool,' Theo said angrily, standing up and glaring between Harry and Draco, 'it's wrong and it's disgusting and it destroys lives. He was a cheating, playboy bastard, just like you Draco.' Theo spat bitterly and stormed from the pub leaving his friends shocked to silence in his wake.

Sadie jumped up and hurried after her boyfriend out of the pub, 'What the hell?' Draco asked, in complete shock and feeling very hurt by his friend's words, he'd unjustly insulted him.

'There was a name on the list...' Hermione said slowly, sharing concerned glances with Daphne and Tracey, 'Almina Nott.'

'Shit, Draco,' Harry mumbled, 'Theo's Mum-'

Draco cut him off, 'she's dead, I know.' He looked so angry with himself for slipping up; he hadn't known that his Father had an affair with Theo's late Mother.

'Should I go talk to him?' Draco asked but Daphne shook her head, 'Leave him to calm down.' Hermione nodded in agreement with her Slytherin friend, 'Sadie's with him, he'll be okay.'

* * *

><p>'Theo!' Sadie rushed to catch up with her boyfriend on his way up the path from Hogsmeade to the castle. When she reached him she had to catch her breath for a moment so they walked in silence until they reached the gates to the castle.<p>

'Are you going to talk to me?' Sadie asked, once she'd gotten her breath back.

Theo shook his head, 'Just leave me alone Sadie.' He said coldly, but Sadie knew him better than to just accept it and walk away.

'No,' Sadie said, not moving from his side, 'because as much as you say you want to be left alone I know you well enough to know you don't, you're just angry and pushing people away is your way of dealing with it.'

'I wouldn't need to push you away if you left me alone and let me deal with it.' Theo said angrily, the coldness gone. Sadie didn't say anything back but she didn't walk away either, she stuck by his side as they walked up the path to the black lake.

'Theo, just talk to me, please.' Sadie said, she wasn't begging, but the hardness to her tone of voice was gone and it must have done something to Theo because he sighed and said, 'Fine.' He stomped over to a tree stump by the lake and sat down on it despite the fact it was raining and cold. Sadie made her way over and sat down next to him. She didn't say anything; she didn't want to push him.

'My Mother's dead Sadie, you know that.' Theo said, and Sadie nodded. Theo had lost his Mother when he was very young and shortly after his Father had remarried, but Sadie had always gotten the impression that Theo was close to his step-mother Salvadora.

'What does that have to do with Lucius Malfoy?' Sadie asked softly, being careful not to make him angry again. He just sounded sad and resigned now that the anger had bubbled away.

Theo looked down at his hands, they were shaking; he took a deep breath, 'My Mother was 21 years old when she died Sadie, the same age as Harry's parents. They were so young, they never got a chance to live,' Theo's voice was shaking, 'but at least Harry has the comfort of knowing his parents died for something, they died to save him, they died to save the Wizarding world.'

Sadie took Theo's hand and squeezed it, but she didn't speak, she didn't want to interrupt him now that he finally felt able to talk to her, 'My Mother died because she fell in love with someone else. Just like so many purebloods she was forced into a marriage contract by her parents, she married my Father and hated him. He treated her the same way he treated me, like I was something to be ashamed of. He hit her and abused her.' Theo was shaking his head, anger burning in his eyes, his voice dripping with bitterness.

'So, along came an older man who was in an equally unhappy marriage and they fell completely for each other,' Theo said, and Sadie was slowly understanding where the story was going, 'My Mother was the only woman that Lucius Malfoy truly loved and he was going to leave Narcissa for her, my Mother was going to run away with him, they were going to take me and Draco and leave.' Theo shook his head again, this time it was as if he was shaking away bad memories.

'What happened to her Theo?' Sadie asked quietly, her eyes welling up with tears at the tale. Theo turned to look in Sadie's eyes, she'd never seen him cry until now, and she'd never seen him so vulnerable.

'My Father found out and he couldn't take the embarrassment of his Wife running away from him,' Theo said, the tears behind his eyes spilling out, 'so he murdered her, then he attended the funeral and said he loved her so much and he'd miss her,' Theo was shaking with rage, 'and do you know what the worst part is?'

Sadie shook her head, completely stunned and saddened by the story of Theo's Mother. Theo took a deep breath, 'I was in the room when he did it. I was about 1 and a half, it was just after Voldemort had been supposedly defeated.'

Sadie cried with Theo as she wrapped her arms around him, 'I'm so sorry Theo, I never knew.' Theo shook his head and held her close, 'It's not your fault, I was scared to tell you, I was scared I'd breakdown like this,' he wiped at his wet eyes, 'I'm sorry you had to see me like this Sadie.'

Sadie pulled back from the hug, 'Don't be stupid Theo; relationships are about seeing the best and the worst in people. If I can see you at your worst and still love you we have good prospects.' Theo smiled, 'Thank you.'

'You really shouldn't have taken it out on Draco though,' Sadie added, now that Theo had calmed down enough to think clearly. Theo grimaced, 'I know, I said some pretty shitty things to him.'

Sadie nodded and glanced at him, 'He's your best friend Theo, you better give him a proper apology.' They both stood up from the wet tree stump, they were soaked through from the rain which was getting heavier and heavier.

'If I promise to apologise to Draco will you keep my company in the shower?' Theo asked, he was teasing her; he was definitely back to normal. Sadie laughed through her shivering and said, 'Yeah, I think I can manage that.'

'Good.' Theo said with a grin, he leant down and kissed Sadie, but this kiss was different to any others they'd shared. The kiss was soft, slow and sweet, it made her weak at the knees. When Theo pulled away he grabbed his petite girlfriend and pulled her against his side to keep her warm as they made their way back to the castle. Theo hadn't realised how much he'd been missing out on when he refused to date, but now he'd finally gotten Sadie all to himself he was never letting her go.

* * *

><p>Draco knew something was up the second he walked into the great hall for dinner. He'd gotten back from Hogsmeade in a bit of a rut about things with Theo, he knew it wasn't his fault but he still felt guilty, Theo <em>was <em>his best friend. He'd gone up to the common room hoping to find Theo but he wasn't there and all Sadie would tell him was that Theo was busy doing something else. Draco of course assumed this was her polite way of telling him that Theo was avoiding him, so Draco played wizard chess with Harry and Dean and sulked until it was time to go to the great hall for dinner.

The hall looked different. There were red rose petals lining the pathway from the door to the 8th year table. Draco frowned and walked suspiciously down the hall, he heard Harry and Hermione sniggering behind him. This entire thing reeked of Theo.

When Draco reached the 8th year table the boy himself jumped out from behind the table dressed in a tux with his hair combed back. Theo was holding a rose in his hand as he went down on one knee in front of Draco, 'Draco Malfoy, you have been my friend since we were tiny little baby slime balls. I'm sorry for calling you a playboy, but I still think your Father's a dick.'

Draco shook his head in amusement at the boy in front of him, 'Theo, you are such a prat.' He said, grabbing him and pulling him to his feet.

'But you forgive me, right?' Theo asked with a cheeky grin.

Draco laughed as the rest of the hall chuckled at the scene they had just witnessed. The Slytherin sat down at the 8th year table with Theo next to him, 'Maybe.'

Theo looked down at the table sadly and Draco eyed him suspiciously, what was he up to now? Theo frowned, 'Oh, wait, I forgot I had this,' he pulled a broom out from under the table and Draco's eyes widened, 'Theo, is that a firebolt?' He asked excitedly.

Theo's frown deepened, 'Oh, I guess it is, well I don't need one; it's all yours.' He handed the broom to Draco who gaped at it in surprise.

'Forgive me yet?'

'Forgive you?' Draco asked with an ecstatic laugh, 'Theo, I _love _you.' Theo smirked and the others shared amused looks, trust Theo to get down on one knee and buy Draco a firebolt just to gain his forgiveness in what had really been a petty little fight. Slytherins minds just didn't work the same way as everyone else's, Harry thought with an amused grin as he tucked into a slice of steak pie.

* * *

><p>McGonagall might have been crazy about house unity in this post-war world, but she wasn't stupid. On the morning of the 25th of October the 8th year table was divided, literally, by a magical barrier.<p>

It was the first Quidditch game of the school year today and Gryffindor was playing Slytherin. On the Slytherin side of the table Draco, Theo, Daphne, Sadie and Tracey whispered and schemed whereas on the Gryffindor side of the table Harry sulked because he didn't get to sit next to Daphne.

All of the Gryffindors were on their own team's side, even Seamus, but the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had even picked sides. Terry Boot sat on the Gryffindor side because he was dating Isabelle and Michael was joining the Gryffindors to support Ginny. Mandy Brocklehurst was with the Slytherins because her boyfriend was their 7th year keeper and Padma Patil was sitting with the Gryffindors because of Parvati. Hannah was with them to support Neville in his first ever Quidditch match and Justin and Ernie always rooted for Gryffindor in these matches too. Zacharias & Megan had taken seats at the Gryffindor side but only because it was where the majority of people were sitting. The Slytherin side was populated with Draco, Theo, Blaise, Daphne, Sadie and Tracey. All in all Harry thought they were off to a good start.

Susan Bones walked into breakfast late and frowned at the table.

'McGonagall's thinks we're going to try and sabotage the Gryffindors, but we don't need to sabotage them to win.' Draco called to her.

Harry glared at his friend through the barrier, 'Just you wait Malfoy!'

Susan shook her head at the ongoing fight and instead of taking sides she grabbed a slice of toast from the Gryffindor side of the table and smiled at Harry, Dean and Neville, 'Good luck boys!' She said as she flounced over to the Slytherin side and grabbed a flask of pumpkin juice, 'Good luck guys!' Then she made her way over to the Hufflepuff table. Even McGonagall shook her head in amusement at the quirky Hufflepuff girl.

Harry remembered how nervous he used to get before Quidditch, that was all gone now, a Quidditch game in front of his fellow students was nothing after defeating the most powerful wizard the world have ever seen in front of his teachers and several Aurors and ministry officials. Dean wasn't nervous either, he never really got nervous but Harry had expected Neville to be, however he had been wrong because Neville was merely excited about the game, no nerves at all. The war really had changed them all.

'So...tactics.' Draco was whispering to his team over breakfast, well most of his team. The Slytherin team was made up mostly of 8th years because Draco was biased and thought his friends were the best. The keeper however was a 7th year. Draco himself played seeker again and the 3 girls were chasers. Theo and Blaise made an excellent duo working together as beaters.

'We've been over it Draco,' Daphne said as she rolled her eyes and tucked into some breakfast, 'tactics – kick Potters ass.'

Draco grinned, 'I have taught you well young one.'

'Stop quoting Muggle films.' Blaise said in amusement from his seat next to Draco, 'you _must _be nervous.'

'Hah!' Barked out Draco, 'Blaise, I don't _get _nervous. I know we have the best team this year, we're going to win.'

'It might help if you distracted Potter mid-game Daph.' Theo said with a wink at his friend, she made a face at him and said, 'Theo, that's cheating and while we might be slimy Slytherins, we aren't going to win this game by cheating.'

'Correct.' Draco said with a smug grin at them all, 'We're going to win on merit.'

'For a change.' Tracey piped up causing the others to laugh, it was true.

'Brute force and ignorance isn't going to help us this time.' Sadie said sensibly, 'The team is made up of 3 girls and 4 scrawny gits.'

'Hey!' Draco, Theo and Blaise echoed causing the girls at the table to laugh, they were in high spirits, even if they didn't win today they knew they'd play a good game, they always did against Gryffindor.

Once breakfast was over McGonagall let the teams leave one by one, and of course she let Gryffindor leave first. She even said good luck to Harry and smiled at him, she _never _smiled at any of the Slytherins. So Harry, Neville and Dean stood up from the table with smug grins at the Slytherins.

'See you on the pitch Malfoy.' Harry said, his eyes sparkling playfully, but there was determination in those eyes too.

Draco narrowed his eyes at the boy he had come to consider as his best friend, 'Oh you're on Potter.'

Meeting their other team members by the door to the great hall the scarlet clad team proudly marched out of the hall to cheering from the Gryffindor table. Draco made a face, 'Ugh, Potter.'

Daphne giggled, 'Draco, I feel like we've gone back in time a little.' Sadie and Tracey joined in with her giggling and Theo grinned, 'You did seem a bit like you used to be there.'

'I thought there was quite a lot of sexual tension there.' Blaise said with an amused grin at Draco who made a face, 'Ugh, Potter? Please Blaise, I do have _some _taste.'

'That's not what you said in 5th year.' Theo muttered and Daphne was laughing so hard she had to catch her breath so she could speak, '_You _had a thing for Potter!'

Draco's usually pale white face had turned a colour similar to the Gryffindors Quidditch robes, 'I didn't have a _thing _for him, it was a fleeting fancy, alright!'

Sadie and Tracey had joined in with the laughter and Theo and Blaise were looking particularly pleased with themselves.

'Draco, give it up, we shared a dorm with you at the time, remember?' Blaise said, grinning at his friend. Draco's face turned a brighter shade of red as Theo started to moan, 'Oh, Potter, ooh, Potter.'

'Theo if you don't shut up I'm going to knock you off your broom with a specially made bludger.' Draco hissed angrily at his friend who stopped the teasing, but still sniggered with Blaise.

'Don't worry about it Draco' Sadie said as she stood from the table, 'we've all had those fantasies about Potter; he's an object of desire to us Slytherins.' Tracey nodded her agreement as she too stood up, 'What is it about him anyway? He's a scrawny specky git.'

Daphne grinned, standing up like the others, 'He has incredible assets.' She said winking at them all, Draco made a face of disgust, 'I think I'm going to throw up my breakfast.'

The others laughed as the Slytherin team met Maxwell Harper, their keeper at the doors to the great hall and walked out to cheers from the Slytherin table. It didn't matter whether or not he had fantasies about him, he was still going to kick Harry Potter's ass.

* * *

><p>The Gryffindor team stood with their brooms in their hands, ready to march proudly onto the pitch. Harry had given them the usual speech, the one he'd taken from Oliver. We can do this, this is our last chance to beat Slytherin, come on team! That sort of speech, it had seemed to work. The Slytherin team were ready too, Draco had given a different sort of speech, he'd told them that they <em>were <em>going to kick Harry Potter's ass and prove that just because he was a war hero he wasn't invincible on the Quidditch pitch.

When the two teams made their way onto the pitch the line up would have been funny if the situation wasn't so tense. The two captains facing each other with glares were none other than Harry and Draco. Next to them were the chasers. Directly across from Ginny was Daphne, the two girls shared a smile and a nod, they were both competitive but not to a ridiculous level like Harry and Draco were. Natalie McDonald and Dennis Creevey faced Sadie and Tracey. Further down the beaters were an amusing sight. Dean and Neville faced their Slytherin twins almost; Blaise and Theo. Harry hadn't really noticed the resemblance until now. Colin Creevey faced the scrawny 7th year Slytherin Keeper Maxwell Harper.

Harry couldn't help but smile as Madam Hooch narrowed her eyes at the two teams and said, 'Now, I want a nice fair game, from all of you,' The same words she'd spoken in his first ever Quidditch game against Slytherin. It was fitting since this would be his last one.

Harry and Draco's eyes met and they both narrowed their eyes at each other and nodded curtly. The team all mounted their brooms and then Madam Hooch and all 14 players sped off from the ground. Madam Hooch blew loudly on her whistle, the game had begun. The box on the ground was opened and the balls were released. The quaffle was thrown up into the air and it was taken immediately, by Ginny, Harry was glad to see.

Ginny sped up the pitch with the quaffle, she threw it over the heads of Sadie and Tracey to Dennis who caught it and threw it under arm to Natalie who was hovering underneath the goalposts. The moment she caught the quaffle she sped up and turned at breakneck speed throwing the quaffle as she spun around. It soared the short distance to the goalposts and Harper dived to catch it but missed, his fingertips only brushed against the ball.

'Gryffindor score!' Hermione called happily from her spot next to McGonagall, she'd been allowed to commentate this year after Luna's disastrous commentary in the past. Hermione had cast sonorous on herself for the job. Luna still played a part in the game though, McGonagall had authorised music in Quidditch games and had put Luna in charge of it. Despite being raised by a Wizard Father Luna was very into Muggle music and gadgets.

As Hermione announced the score a song blared out from the newly installed magical speakers positioned around the pitch, 'Three lions on a shirt! No more years of hurt, no more need for dreaming!'

Harry laughed loudly from his spot high up looking for the snitch. The England song for the cup that year, it had captured the Muggle world by storm, and apparently even the Wizarding world too because a lot of the crowd seemed to know the words. Although, the words _were _slightly different.

'It's coming home; it's coming home, its coming. Quidditch is coming home.'

Most of the Slytherins didn't get the funny side to it but they were annoyed that Gryffindor had made the first goal of the day and they upped their game a little.

Natalie threw the quaffle to Ginny but Daphne sped in between them and caught it, throwing it with great precision into Sadie's arms. Daphne flew up the pitch and she and Sadie passed the quaffle between each other a few times until eventually Sadie was close enough to the Gryffindor goals to score. She threw it so that it looked like it was going to go over the post rather than through, Colin was sure it had missed and barely attempted to save it but it soared through the golden hoop and the Slytherin stands erupted with applause.

'And Slytherin score!' Hermione called out, 'which means at this early stage Gryffindor and Slytherin are tied!'

Music came out of the speakers again, this time it was the Slytherins scoring song, and again, it made Harry laugh, it was very appropriate.

'I'm bad to the bone, b-b-bad, b-b-bad, bad to the bone.'

Draco smirked at Harry and sped off to the other side of the pitch. They weren't losing yet, it was tied, there was no cause for concern in such an early stage.

'Gryffindor has the quaffle, Ginny passes to Natalie, and back to Ginny and to – oh no, Tracey catches the quaffle – Slytherin in possession. She heads for the goalposts, passes to Sadie who passes to Daphne, back to Sadie, and it's Daphne again and oh no she's going to – what an excellent save from new Gryffindor keeper Colin Creevey!' Hermione was very good at this whole commentating thing, Harry thought with a chuckle, and that had been a great save on Colin's part, he was a better keeper than Ron had been.

The song that blared out of the speakers at Colin's save was one that Harry was sure Luna had chosen personally for her boyfriend.

'Ooh, your sex is on fire!'

Hermione had to compose herself after nearly crying with laughter at the song choice but then she got back to the job at hand, 'Slytherin is still in possession of the quaffle, Tracey passes to Sadie, back to Tracey, and now Daphne, and Sadie again, and – oh she's dropped the quaffle! Gryffindor in possession, Ginny is making her way up the pitch, she passes to Dennis, and its Ginny again, and Dennis, and Ginny and she's going to score, come on Gin! YES! Gryffindor score! 20-10.'

The Gryffindor crowd cheered loudly and started to sing 3 lions on a shirt again. Harry pumped the air happily, they were no longer tied with Slytherin, they had the upper hand now.

'Gryffindor is still in possession of the quaffle! Ginny passes to Natalie and now Dennis, and now Ginny again, she's heading for the goal posts – but oh! She's hit by a well placed bludger from Theo, and she drops the quaffle!'

Another song began to play at this point, Ginny cursed and glared at Theo who grinned and hi-fived Blaise.

'Hit me with your best shot! Why don't you hit me with best shot? Hit me with your best shot, fire away!'

Harry was more than a little embarrassed to find himself singing along.

'Nice voice Potter.' Draco called from a little way behind him. Harry steered his broom around and flew over to the Slytherin.

'Seen the snitch yet Malfoy?' Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

'If I had I wouldn't tell you.' Draco said, it felt like they'd gone back to their old rivalry, it was quite funny actually.

'You aren't going to find it before me.' Harry said, eyes glittering excitedly.

'Just you wait Potter.'

Both boys were distracted from their conversation by a song that started to play on the speakers far down below them on the pitch.

'I can't fight this feeling anymore. I've forgotten what I started fighting for. It's time to bring this ship into the shore and throw away the oars forever, cause I can't fight this feeling anymore!'

On the pitch below Daphne, Sadie and Tracey were holding each other up with laughter and Theo and Blaise were killing themselves laughing. All that could be heard from Hermione was her cackling with laughter, 'And I think that was aimed at Harry and Draco up there,' Hermione finally managed to say when she had stopped laughing.

'This is awkward.' Harry said, glancing at the Slytherin who nodded, his face a little flushed, 'Yeah, um, let's go look for the snitch.'

'At opposite sides of the pitch.' Harry added and Draco nodded his agreement, with that they sped off in opposite directions.

Hermione's attention went back to the game and in the next few minutes Gryffindor scored twice more, putting the score at 40:10. Harry was positive that they had this game in the bag.

'Oh, I think Draco's seen the snitch!' Hermione called out in excitement as Draco began to speed along the pitch with his eyes on something.

'Shit!' Harry cursed, he'd been too busy watching the game below him, he sped after Draco; it was harder to catch up with him now that Theo had bought him a firebolt, but he managed. The two of them sped along next to each other with their arms reached out.

'Oooh, who is going to catch it?' Hermione was jumping up and down in her seat now with McGonagall biting her nails next to her, but no one caught the snitch.

'Draco got hit in the arm with a bludger!' Hermione called out, 'I hope he's okay.' She added, sounding concerned. Harry rolled his eyes in amusement. Neville had stopped Draco from getting the snitch but in the process Harry had lost it too. With a glare to Harry and Neville the Slytherin boy sped off up the pitch.

In the next 10 minutes Slytherin scored again catching up to Gryffindor. The score was now 40:20.

'Oh no! Natalie McDonald is down after a bludger to the head! What did you do that for Theo?' Hermione was getting annoyed now, glaring at Theo as he sped past the stand and shouted, 'Sorry!'

At the loss of Natalie from the game another song started to play, again it made Harry laugh, Quidditch was much more fun with Muggle music.

'Another one bites the dust! And another one, another one bites the dust.'

'Gryffindor is down to two chasers! But they still have possession, oh no, not anymore. Daphne caught the quaffle, and now Tracey, Sadie, Tracey, Sadie, Tracey again and she's heading for the goalposts, come on Colin, save it! No! Slytherin have scored again!'

'Yes!' Draco pumped the air, 40:30. They were catching up after an abysmal start.

Natalie McDonald was being tended too on the ground by Madam Pomfrey; Gryffindor had a real disadvantage with one chaser less than Slytherin.

'Oh no, Slytherin are still in possession, and it looks like they're going to score again! Wait – Ginny has the quaffle! She passes to Dennis, back to Ginny, Dennis, Ginny, Dennis, he's going to score – but no, nice save there from Harper. Slytherin are in possession, Daphne passes to Sadie, back to Daphne, and to Tracey, Sadie again, Tracey, and she's going to score, come on Colin, save it! But no, Slytherin score again!'

Harry cursed; Slytherin and Gryffindor were tied again. Now would be a really good time to catch the snitch. On a mission Harry darted around the pitch looking for the tiniest gleam or glitter of gold, then he saw it, fluttering by the Hufflepuff stands, but Draco had seen it too. Both boys put that extra burst of speed on as they flew as fast as they could, bumping into each other, trying to push each other out of the way.

'It's mine Potter!'

'You wish Malfoy!'

Two hands reached out and clutched at the air, but only one of those hands tightened around the snitches struggling wings.

The crowd went wild with applause.

The game was over.

* * *

><p>It was 4am.<p>

_4am._

The birds began to sing at 4am because they were waking up. The sun started to rise at 4am because a new day was dawning. Normal people were supposed to be asleep at 4am. People like Minerva McGonagall, who had a busy day ahead of her.

Minerva McGonagall's office was in the Headmasters tower which was entered via the gargoyle on the third floor. It was nice, it was secluded. It was away from the hustle and bustle of the main school. It was away from the noise. _However _there was a balcony in the room above the office which Minerva slept in, an open air balcony. Usually it brought sweet sounds like birds singing or the wind whistling. _Usually _it didn't carry the noise of a party on _the other side_ of the school.

Unfortunately the wind had been blowing in the wrong direction on this particular Saturday night because the 8th year party in the Eastern tower had been keeping her up all night and she'd already told them to quieten down, _twice_.

She was a woman on a mission as she stormed towards the common room, a walk that took her almost 20 minutes because it was so far away. She really shouldn't have installed an open air roof. There were barriers of course so no one could fall off, and she'd thought it would be a nice idea for the summer, the Eastern tower had beautiful views over the lake and the mountains. She hadn't thought the students was use it as a party location, she'd expected Miss. Granger to keep them all in line, but then again, she'd been corrupted by her new Slytherin boyfriend and his friends.

As McGonagall reached the door to the 8th year common room the party was so loud she could barely hear herself thinking. There was music blaring out of a Wizarding radio and there were shouts, whistles and screams.

'Let me in.' McGonagall said angrily to the door which spoke to her in the voice of Dumbledore, 'Ah Minerva, at last, I was doubting I'd get any sleep tonight.'

The wooden door swung open and at first no one even noticed. It was complete chaos. _Someone _(her guess was Potter) had snuck out to Hogsmeade and brought back 6 kegs of butterbeer. There was firewhiskey doing the rounds too. In every corner of the room there were couples making out with no shame whatsoever. Longbottom was dancing on a table with the Hufflepuff girls Abbott and Bones. When McGonagall's eyes fell on Malfoy and Potter she decided she couldn't look at this anymore.

'SILENCE!' McGonagall roared and immediately the laughter and the shouts died down to eventual silence as all eyes turned to the Headmistress who was in a rage now, 'I have to get up in 3 hours and work! I have to send away paperwork so you ungrateful students can sit your N.E. ! I have to arrange careers meetings so you can all get jobs when you leave this school!'

If her aim was to make them all feel bad, it had worked. All heads were held down in shame, but there was always once person who couldn't keep their mouth shut. This time that person was Theo.

'And you've got a hot date with the Minister for Magic.'

McGonagall turned to stare at Theo with a gaze that looked as though it might turn the Slytherin boy to stone.

'Detention Nott, every night for the next _month_.' McGonagall turned on her heel and walked to the door of the common room, 'if this party doesn't stop now you will _all _be joining him!'

With that she stomped from the room and for a moment after her departure, the room was completely silent, as if everyone was frozen.

'She's just pissed that Slytherin won.' Draco said with a grin that got the other Slytherin boys laughing.

The room was decked in Slytherin green to celebrate the win, the Gryffindors had been pissed off, but after a large amount of butterbeer and firewhiskey everyone was getting on again. The party had been wild and had been getting a bit out of control so Hermione insisted that McGonagall was right and sent everyone to bed.

* * *

><p>'Ugh.'<p>

This was the first word out of Harry's mouth when he opened his eyes on Sunday morning. He felt terrible; he couldn't remember anything from around midnight the night before. He squinted against the sunlight coming in the window and flopped back down on his bed with a groan.

'Here,' said an amused voice from beside him. Harry jumped as Daphne appeared next to his bed and handed him a vial of sober-up potion. Harry sighed, 'You are amazing,' and swallowed the entire potion in one gulp.

He closed his eyes and lay back down in his bed for a moment as the potion began to spread throughout his body. He felt the aches and pains vanish and the sickness in his stomach disappear. His head felt clear again and when he opened his eyes the sunlight didn't burn.

'I know I am,' Daphne said with a grin, 'you told me often enough last night.'

Harry chuckled as he stood up and threw on some boxers and a pair of jeans, 'I don't remember much,' he admitted.

'That's probably good,' Daphne said, smirking at him, 'you were a little out of character last night.'

Harry narrowed his eyes at her, 'What did I do?' he asked, throwing on a top and checking his watch, he was starving, but then again it _was _5pm.

'I really don't think you want to know,' Daphne said with a chuckle as she and Harry made their way out of the dorm room into the common room where everyone grinned at him.

'Good party last night mate!' Dean called from the sofa where he was lazily lying around with Tracey.

'It was a pretty good night,' Draco piped up from where he was leaning in the doorway to the common room, 'are you going to dinner?'

Harry shook his head, 'I'm going to the kitchens, I'm seriously craving treacle tart for breakfast.'

Draco rolled his eyes at Daphne who was still too busy giggling to really notice, 'I'll join you.' Draco said and Daphne grinned, holding back another fit of the giggles, 'I'll catch ya later Potter.'

Harry yawned and waved goodbye to her as he made his way out of the common room with Draco, 'What's up with her this morning?'

Draco shrugged, 'She's a girl, they're weird like that.' Harry chuckled his agreement, 'Man, I don't remember a lot from last night.'

Draco narrowed his eyes at him, 'You don't?'

'Nope,' Harry said, 'I'm missing 4 hours,' he laughed and looked at Draco, 'I guess that's when you know if it was a good party or not.'

'Well, it was certainly interesting,' Draco said slowly as he and Harry made their way through a shortcut to the kitchens. Well, if he had a blank spot, it would stay that way.

* * *

><p>When Harry and Draco reappeared in the common room the giggling took up again but Harry ignored it and flopped down on the sofa. Draco sat next to him and Theo and Blaise shared an amused grin.<p>

'Still upset about yesterday's loss Potter?' Blaise asked with a smug grin.

Harry made a face, 'Don't even get me started. I can't believe _you _caught the snitch, I hate you Malfoy.'

'That's not what you said last night,' Theo said with a wink to Harry.

'Quite the opposite,' Tracey giggled, she looked at Sadie and they both burst out laughing.

Hermione hid a smile of amusement behind her book.

'What do you mean?' Harry asked with a frown of complete confusion. Daphne giggled, 'He doesn't remember.'

'Oh, doesn't he?' Sadie asked, still giggling, 'should we refresh his memory?'

'I think we should,' Daphne said through her laughter and Harry noticed the colour in Draco's cheeks was rising.

'Oh God,' Harry muttered, looking between Draco and the girls, 'what the hell did we do?'

Hermione put her book down, also trying hard not to laugh, 'Well I must admit I got a shock when I came back from the bathroom to find my best friend and my boyfriend snogging.'

Daphne, Tracey and Sadie were laughing so hard they were holding their sides and Hermione couldn't resist joining in. Draco's face was bright red which amused Theo and Blaise beyond words and Harry's mouth was open and his eyes were wide.

'This is slightly awkward,' Harry said to Draco who nodded, 'Yeah, slightly.'

There was silence (except the laughter of the majority of the people in the common room) in which Harry looked from Draco to the floor to Draco again.

'Um, shall we blame it on too much firewhisky and an urge to explore unexplained sexual tension?' Harry asked, holding out his hand to Draco.

The Slytherin, still very embarrassed nodded, 'Sexual tension efficiently explored.' He said, taking Harry's hand and shaking it.

The others were still laughing and missed the exchange, thankfully. As Harry sank into the chair and joined the others in their laughter (because really it was quite funny) he couldn't help but smile and think to himself, well at least 8th year was definitely not going to be a boring year.

_**TBC **_


	22. Halloween

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 22 – Halloween**

The entire school had gotten Friday the 31st of October off of classes to prepare for the Halloween Ball. The girls were extremely grateful for this because according to Daphne it would take 6 hours to get them all perfectly done up. Daphne had taken it upon herself to do all of the girl's hair and make-up as well as her own.

Harry had been of the opinion that it took 5 minutes to get dressed and cast a couple of glamour charms so he'd ordered the whole team to the Quidditch pitch. After the embarrassing defeat by Slytherin he was determined not to lose another game in the season and win the Quidditch cup, after all, this year was his last chance to do it.

Dean, Neville, Colin and Dennis had turned up to this practice with no issues, like Harry they couldn't see how it took 6 hours to get ready for a ball. Ginny and Natalie however, had refused to come so they had to make do without them. Harry and Neville acted as chasers while Colin and Dean remained in their original positions. After a good all round practice Harry insisted that they bring the snitch out.

He caught it 10 times in 8 minutes. How the hell had Draco beaten him to it?

'Harry, can we go back to the common room yet?' Dean called from his spot hovering by the goalposts. They'd been out here since 9am and it was now after lunch and everyone was hungry and fed up.

'Do you want to win the Quidditch cup?' Harry asked bitterly, he was determined to win; he was pushing them harder than any other captain was pushing their team. No one else was dedicated enough to practice on the day of the Ball. Harry saw it as an extra day, a day that they held over the other teams.

'Harry,' Neville sighed, a little exasperated, 'the next game is against Hufflepuff, we have it in the bag.'

'Not necessarily!' Harry shouted, motioning for them all to meet on the ground. The boys all flew down to hear what their captain had to say, 'Hufflepuff has a strong team this year, stronger than they've ever had. The three chasers, Megan, Justin and Mason are good.'

'The chasers might be good but the new keeper is Zacharias Smith,' Dean said, making a face, 'he lets in the quaffle more than _Ron _did.'

Colin frowned and added, 'but they have Susan Bones, she's one of the best female beaters I've ever seen.'

'Granted, they have some talented players,' Neville said, 'but the other beater is Hannah and as much as I love my girlfriend she isn't the best Quidditch player.'

'What about Ernie MacMillan?' Harry asked, annoyed with them all, it was this attitude that lost them games, 'he's the new seeker and he's good.'

'Not as good as Draco,' Dean put in, 'it was a fluke Harry, you and Draco are on a par when it comes to talent, you tower over Ernie. We're going to win the game.'

'We need to win it with as much points as we can rack up,' Harry said as they made their way to the changing rooms to shower and head back up to the castle, 'Hufflepuff play Ravenclaw on Sunday and if Hufflepuff win that match we're in trouble.'

'I don't think they will,' Dean said thoughtfully, 'Ravenclaw have a good team this year, I think it's our game against them that we need to worry about.'

'I've never heard of their new Keeper, Paul Clearwater, all I know is he's Penelope Clearwater's younger brother,' Harry said, 'I'm going to write to Percy and ask if he's any good.' Neville and Dean rolled their eyes at each other.

'Who are the Ravenclaw chasers this year?' Dennis piped up as the team entered the warm changing rooms.

'I think they are taking a leaf out of the Slytherins book because all the chasers are female,' Neville informed the others, 'Mandy Brocklehurst, Padma Patil and Luna.'

There was some sniggering at the fact Luna had made the team. Harry wondered about the sanity of the Ravenclaw captain, Terry Boot, 'Well they have good beaters, Corner and Goldstein have been a team for Ravenclaw for a couple of years now.'

'Your big challenge is Boot, Harry.' Dean said to the seeker, 'He _is _a good seeker; he's got a good eye.'

Harry nodded, he knew from experience that Boot often saw the snitch first but by having a firebolt Harry still managed to catch it by following his line of sight and getting to the little golden ball first.

'Well, even after this weekend's game Slytherin play Ravenclaw in January,' Harry said on a final note, 'we'll just need to wait and see how those two games go.'

* * *

><p>'You've been playing Quidditch for 5 hours!'<p>

'Good to see you too,' Dean said jokingly to his girlfriend when he, Neville and Harry walked back into the common room. It was 2pm and he was surprised that the girls hadn't started to get ready yet. After all, the ball started in 5 hours and Daphne had said getting ready would take 6.

Hermione smiled from the book she was reading, her hair was in curlers, 'It was 4 hours before the Yule Ball, they're getting worse.'

Harry rolled his eyes, 'I'm not getting beaten again, not after that embarrassing defeat by Slytherin.'

'And the even more embarrassing after party,' Theo piped up with a wink which made Draco groan in annoyance, 'Shut up Theo, everyone knows what happened between you and Blaise at the last post-Quidditch party.'

Theo's cheeks reddened and he shut his mouth, Harry smirked triumphantly, as did Draco, they had been getting teased about that disastrous kiss ever since the morning after the damned party.

'Why aren't you getting ready anyway?' Harry asked as he sat down next to Draco on the sofa.

Hermione didn't look up from her book as she pointed at the curlers in her hair. Harry nodded, 'Fair, but what about you Trace?'

'Daphne is doing Sadie first, then she'll do me,' Tracey said simply, not looking up from the paper she was reading.

Harry sniggered, 'Well, I know Daphne likes to do everyone, but isn't that taking it a bit far?'

Hermione, Draco and Tracey all made a face at him and Harry bit his lip, 'She's behind me, isn't she?' The other three nodded.

Harry stood up and turned around, 'Hey Daphne.' He said brightly.

'I don't like to do everyone for your information Potter,' Daphne said, glaring at him, 'Since we got back to school it's only been you,' she turned away from Harry who was beating his brain up and looked at Tracey, 'Trace, I'm ready for you.'

Tracey shot Harry a dirty look before following Daphne up the stairs to the dorm room. When they were gone Harry kicked the sofa and cursed, 'God! Why am I such an idiot?'

'Because you're a Gryffindor?'

'Because you're male?'

The responses from Draco and Hermione didn't help. Harry groaned and sunk back down into the sofa, 'I thought you said Daphne did flings, not relationships!'

'She does,' Draco said, frowning at his friend, 'usually she does more than one at a time too,' he shrugged, 'I think she might like you more than she lets on.'

'Of course she does,' Hermione said as she rolled her eyes, 'it's obvious, she's just scared of getting hurt, which is something Harry's very good at in relationships.'

'Wow, thanks Hermione,' Harry said sarcastically.

'Don't try and be sarcastic, it doesn't suit you,' Draco said dryly as he stood up and stretched, 'I'm going for a shower,' he turned and winked to Hermione whose cheeks turned pink and then he made his way up to his dorm room.

'What am I going to do about Daphne?' Harry asked Hermione in frustration, 'we're supposed to be going to the ball tonight.'

Hermione looked up at him with amusement in her eyes, 'Harry, don't you know Daphne at all? She wanted to make a scene, she's not really that angry, by the time we're ready to go to the ball she'll flounce into the room and smile at you like nothing happened.'

It was worrying how well Hermione knew Daphne, because that was exactly what happened 4 and a half hours later.

* * *

><p>When the clock struck 6.30pm the girls made their way down the staircase from their dorm rooms to meet the boys in the common room. Harry had already seen a few 8th years come and go but he hadn't been able to determine their outfits from brief glances.<p>

Daphne made her way down the stairs first. The red and black dress she'd chosen back in Hogsmeade looked just as good on her as Harry had imagined it would. It was very figure-hugging and Daphne had an amazing figure. She had lightly curled her long blonde hair and left it down, flowing over her shoulders. Her make-up was amazing, her face was paler than usual but not white pale and her lipstick was blood red, she had dark eyeliner on and had heavily applied mascara, she looked like a Vampire, an amazing one.

'Wow.' Harry said, not managing to get any other words out of his mouth as she walked over to him and linked her arm through his, she whispered in his ear, 'You better apologise later, for earlier.' Harry nodded, not really able to speak at the moment. Daphne added, 'Vampire style,' and winked at the Gryffindor who swallowed hard.

The next person down the staircase was Sadie and Theo's reaction was similar to Harry's. In addition to her red and black ball-gown she'd styled her hair. It was pulled up into a lose bun at the back of her head and the only hair left out was her fringe. Like Daphne she had the signature red lips, pale face and dark eyes. Theo greeted her with, 'You look amazing,' to which Sadie replied, 'I know, right? Daphne is _so _good at glamour charms!'

Next out of the magical staircase was Tracey who looked just as striking as her two best friends in the purple and black tight figure-hugging dress she'd picked out. Tracey was wearing a black choker with purple jewels and had left her long hair down, it was usually poker straight but like Daphne's it had been lightly curled. Again, like the other girls her face was pale, her lips were red and her eyes were dark. 'Definitely worth the wait,' Dean said, smiling and kissing his girlfriend as she walked over to him and put her arm through his.

Last down the stairs was Hermione and all of the guys gaped when they saw her, even Draco who'd known what her outfit was. They'd expected her to dress up and have fun with it, but they had not expected her to apply Daphne's minimal clothing policy to the costume. Hermione was clearly an Angel. She was wearing a white dress that stopped mid-thigh and the sides were held together with white ribbon, meaning that a lot was visible. The dress was low-cut with silver stars scattered across it and white fur trimming the bust and the hem of the dress. Hermione's legs seemed to go on forever and on her feet she had white high heels. On her arms were matching open finger white gloves with the same fur trim, she had white wings attached to her back and to complete the outfit floating above her head and obviously there by magic was a white glittering halo. Hermione's hair was left down and was slightly curled like the other girls; her make-up was more subtle, just a little bit of lip-gloss.

'Merlin,' Draco gasped as Hermione walked over to him, 'you look amazing.'

'You do,' Harry and Theo said at the same time which made Draco glare at them, 'Oi! Stop looking at my girlfriend's arse!' The others laughed, including Hermione.

It was clear then that Draco and Hermione's joint costume was the Devil and an Angel, it was pretty accurate really. Draco was wearing black trousers, black dress shoes, a red vest and a black cape; he'd have looked like a Vampire if it wasn't for the red horns on his head and the trident in his hand.

There was some whispering from the top of the stairs and then Hannah and Luna walked down together. Luna's costume had been matching to Hannah's so they'd let her get ready in the 8th year common room, Colin was waiting at the bottom of the stairs with the other boys to see his girlfriends costume.

At first Harry didn't get it, but then it made sense. Hannah looked stunning in a floor length yellow ball-gown. The style was strapless and there were silver flower embellishments along the bust of the dress. Hannah had kept it simple, keeping her long blonde hair down and wearing a silver necklace. Luna was wearing a similarly styled ball-gown, only hers was navy blue and much more elaborate. There were silver embellishments on the skirt and around the bust which again was strapless. Luna had also left her hair down, although it was curled, and she had blue gloves to match the dress.

Harry didn't get who they were meant to be until he saw Neville and Blaise come out of the boy's staircase. Neville was wearing scarlet red trousers, a white shirt with a red tie and a red suit jacket. Next to him Blaise was wearing dark green trousers, a white shirt with a green vest over it and a dark green suit jacket. On Neville's jacket there was an emblem, the Gryffindor crest and on Blaise's there was the Slytherin crest. Another glance to the girls showed that on the bust of Hannah's dress there was the Hufflepuff crest and in the same place on Luna's dress was the Ravenclaw crest. In addition to this crest however Luna had a strange creation on her head that Harry supposed was her version of the lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw. It was a very clever idea; they were the founders of Hogwarts.

With everyone ready the group split into their respective couples and began the long walk to the great hall.

* * *

><p>By the time they reached the great hall the doors were just opening and Harry gaped in amazement as he looked around the large room. He'd never seen it look this good for Halloween before.<p>

The enchanted ceiling gave off the impression that there was a storm outside. The room was lit by orange and red lights which gave off a very cool vibe and the house tables and head table were gone. The dance floor was in the middle of the hall and the tables were positioned around the dance floor. Each table had a white table cloth over it that appeared to be ripped, there were fake spider webs all over the hall, skulls as centrepieces on the table. There were even floating Jack-o'-lanterns above every single table. At the end of the hall, where the head table usually was, there was a drinks table, with completely non-alcoholic drinks of course. The table was decorated to look like it was table cloths laid over several coffins, and whenever someone approached to get a drink one of the 'corpses' in the 'coffins' grabbed their leg. The windows all had the appearance of being dusty or broken, like they were in an old haunted house and the music playing was eerie, it was very cool.

'Wow, they went all out decorating the hall.' Daphne said as she looked around the place in amazement. The others were all awed by the decoration too; McGonagall had really pulled this one off. Her first year as Headmistress was going down a storm so far.

The group got a large table near the dance-floor and the girls sat down while the boys went over to the drinks table to grab something for themselves and their girlfriends (or friend, in Harry and Daphne's case). When they reached the table the 'corpses' all grabbed their legs. Dean just raised an eyebrow at Harry until the 'corpse' let go and Theo only laughed, but Draco jumped and squealed like a girl. Harry grinned at his friend's reaction and looked down to realise that the fake corpses were actually house-elves.

'Kreacher, hey!' Harry said, kneeling down to talk to his house-elf. The elf climbed out of the coffin and bowed to Harry, 'Kreacher is helping Headmistress McGonagall Master Potter.'

'That's pretty cool,' Harry said, looking along at the other house-elves, 'Hey, you're sharing a coffin with Winky!'

Kreacher got a little flustered as Winky climbed out of the coffin and bowed to Harry, 'Winky cleaned herself up after she lost poor Dobby, Harry Potter Sir, Winky is a good elf now.'

'Well that's great Winky,' Harry said happily, glancing between the two elves and their embarrassed faces, 'Hang on a minute...are you two...'

Kreacher bowed his head, his nose was nearly touching the floor, 'This will not affect Kreacher's work Master Potter, Kreacher is a hard working elf, Kreacher promises.'

Harry laughed and shook his head, 'Don't worry about it Kreacher,' he said, grabbing two glasses of punch, 'just have fun.'

As the four boys made their way back over to their table the others laughed at Harry, 'Wow, your house elf has more of a love life than you,' Theo joked and Draco and Neville roared with laughter. Harry only shook his head in amusement, it was true after all.

'Hermione, you'll never guess what we just saw,' Harry said, still chuckling as he sat back down at the table and handed Daphne her drink, 'Kreacher and Winky! Sharing a coffin together,' he winked at her, 'if you catch my drift.'

'Aw!' Hermione coo-ed, 'that's so sweet, I'm glad that Winky and Kreacher are happy!'

Harry and Draco shared a look of exasperation and Harry said, 'Excuse me I think I'm gonna S.P.E.W.' Hermione shot him a dirty look but the others choked back laughter at the comment.

* * *

><p>Parvati had offered to go and get drinks for herself and her sister, but the moment she got to the drinks table she wished she hadn't because low and behold the man standing next to her was none other than Professor Poliakoff. She'd hoped he wouldn't say anything, after all they hadn't seen each other since he got here except when Parvati was in class with everyone else so she didn't know where they stood, or if there was even a 'them'.<p>

Poliakoff was dressed in black trousers and a white shirt, his face was pale and he had fake fangs so he was obviously supposed to be a Vampire. Parvati and Padma had put their heads together and decided to go as Aphrodite and Athena. Parvati was wearing a floor length white dress with a cut in the side from the top of her thigh so if she moved the wrong way all was revealed. The middle of the dress had a large silver belt around it and she had matching silver cuffs on her wrists. She was wearing high heeled gladiator sandals with a silver strap that stopped just below her knee.

She noticed Poliakoff turn to look at her and she was aware that he didn't turn away but she didn't dare turn to look him in the eye.

'Parvati, can we talk please?'

The voice almost made her break and turn, but she didn't, instead she pretended she was focused on getting a glass of punch, 'Talk about what?'

'I want to explain why I didn't write.' Poliakoff sighed, sounding guilty.

'Explain then,' Parvati said simply, still not turning to look at him.

'Not here,' Poliakoff said, 'come for a walk with me, please?'

She couldn't put it off anymore so she turned to look at him, he did look sorry and she knew they had unresolved issues so she sighed and nodded, 'Okay,' she said simply, letting him lead her out of the hall. Thankfully they managed to slip outside unnoticed.

The decorations outside were as good as the ones inside. There was a small rose garden, as there had been at the Yule Ball so people could slip outside for air, but it was decorated like an old abandoned graveyard. All along the hedges were gravestones and there were jack-o'-lanterns floating in the air outside too, they were what was lighting the little garden. The hedges were covered in fake spider webs and a nearby tree had a skeleton hanging from it in a noose as if he'd been hung. At certain points in the pathway there were skeletons half buried so they looked like they were climbing out of the ground and white sheets blowing in the wind.

Parvati shivered, 'This is creepy.'

Poliakoff smiled out of the corner of his mouth, this was the Parvati he remembered, a little shy, very sweet and easily scared. He put his arm around her and she didn't push it away, whether that was because she wanted him to hold her or because she was scared, he didn't know. Either way they walked through the little garden to sit down on a secluded bench.

'I knew I should have written,' Poliakoff said, 'but I was scared. I was about to graduate school and I didn't know what I wanted to do or where life would take me, I didn't want to drag you into it and hurt you even more when it ended.'

Parvati managed a weak smile; at least his reasons were noble. Poliakoff pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to her. Frowning Parvati took it and realised it was a bundle of letters.

'All the letters I wrote but was too afraid to send,' Poliakoff admitted, looking into her eyes, the same dark brown eyes he'd looked into the last time, just before he'd kissed her.

'This is where we had our first kiss,' Poliakoff said softly, he knew she was thinking the same thing.

'This is where we had our last kiss,' Parvati corrected, looking down to the letters in her hands, 'You aren't going to leave again, are you?'

Poliakoff shook his head, reaching his hand out to cup Parvati's cheek, 'No,' he promised and with a miniscule nod Parvati leaned in for the kiss. Her eyes fluttered shut as her lips met his for the second time. It was just as perfect as the first time, his lips were just as soft, he tasted just as sweet, and just like the first time Parvati melted into the kiss, like she was in heaven.

* * *

><p>Susan Bones liked to be different; she didn't like to be mainstream so when she realised everyone else was wearing typical Halloween costumes she decided to wear something that no one expected. As a result she was wearing a skirt that stopped mid-thigh with a white blouse that had too many buttons unfastened. She wore her Hufflepuff school tie and her robes with the Hufflepuff crest on them. She had wearing ridiculously high heels and knee length white socks. She was a sexy Hufflepuff school girl.<p>

Susan was wandering around the hall looking for Hannah when she saw something extremely strange. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy walked into the hall together, holding hands. Susan grinned in amusement and made her way over to the two boys, 'Okay guys, I understand the unexplored sexual tension related kiss when you were drunk, but isn't this taking it too far?'

Harry grinned, 'Brilliant Ernie! She thinks we're them, it worked perfectly!'

Susan gaped and looked between the two boys, 'Justin! Ernie! Is that you?'

'Yep,' Ernie replied, grinning, it sounded strange to hear his voice come from Draco's mouth, 'we thought it would be funny to go as Harry and Draco so we made polyjuice potion, grabbed a couple of their hairs and drank it!'

Susan laughed at the two boys, it was a pretty genius idea but Justin and Ernie had recently started dating so she had a feeling their costumes could make for an interesting night, and she wasn't wrong.

'Harry...Draco...' Neville said as he approached his two friends, 'why are there two of you?'

'What!' Harry and Draco asked in unison, frowning at each other and then Neville who pointed to the dance floor where Harry and Draco were dancing together and staring into each other's eyes, very romantically.

'What the hell?' Draco asked, in complete shock, Harry on the other hand just gaped in horror, and the girls, they of course found it hilarious.

It was at that moment that sexy schoolgirl Susan appeared at their table looking extremely amused, 'Seen your doppelgangers?' she asked with a chuckle.

'Susan, what on Earth is going on?' Hermione asked through her chuckles.

Susan grinned and glanced over at the love struck couple who couldn't take their eyes off of each other, 'It's Ernie and Justin, they thought it would be funny to go as Harry and Draco so they used polyjuice potion.'

Harry made a face of disgust as he looked at the two Hufflepuffs who chose that moment to kiss. The table erupted with laughter; Hermione and Daphne were holding each other up as Harry and Draco's doppelgangers passionately made out in the middle of the dance floor. Susan, Sadie and Tracey couldn't contain their laughter either and Theo's face was so red from laughing it looked as if he might faint.

'Well at least they'll only look like us for an hour,' Draco said, taking his eyes off the snogging couple, the look on his face mirroring the look on Harry's.

'Uh, not quite,' Susan said, still grinning, 'Ernie and Justin are pretty good at potions.'

'What have they done?' Draco asked, dreading the answer.

'They adjusted it,' Susan said, giggling at the look on Hermione's face as she realised what the Hufflepuffs had done.

'They didn't...' Daphne said slowly, looking at Hermione who nodded and then the two girls broke into a fresh bout of the giggles.

'Susan,' Harry said slowly, turning to the girl, '_what _did they do?'

Susan bit her lip, 'they made it so it will last 24 hours instead of 1 hour.'

'Is that even possible?' Tracey asked in shock. Sadie, Hermione and Daphne frowned at her and nodded, they had all gotten O's in O.W.L level potions whereas Tracey had scraped an E with the help of her friends tutoring.

'Yeah,' Sadie said, as if it was obvious, 'it's easy.'

'All you do is double-'

'The amount of lacewing flies to-'

'Double the duration of time you want the potion to take effect.'

Sadie, Hermione and Daphne informed the others between them. They were the Potions geeks of the group.

'So...they're going to be us for 24 hours,' Harry realised as he looked darkly at Draco.

'So?' Draco asked, not quite getting Harry's point yet.

Harry groaned, 'And they are a _couple_ Draco!'

Draco's eyes widened and he choked on his punch, 'Shit! Harry what if they do it in-'

'_Our_ bodies!' Harry finished, looking as disgusted and freaked out as Draco.

This of course caused everyone else at the table to burst out laughing again except Harry and Draco. God that would be so wrong. Harry and Draco looked between each other to Ernie and Justin who were now leaving the hall holding hands.

'Draco, they're leaving!'

'Great,' Draco said dryly, watching them leave, 'they're going to have homosexual sex in our bodies.'

Harry stood from the table and said, 'Excuse me; I think I'm going to be sick.'

Draco made a face and said, 'Me too.'

The rest of the table roared with laughter as the two friends hurried out of the hall together.

* * *

><p>'I couldn't just ask them Draco!'<p>

'Why not? You're friends with them!'

'That doesn't mean I can just go up to them and say excuse me guys are going to have sex in Draco and I's bodies tonight!'

'Yes it does, friends can talk about anything!'

'Draco, they _are _going to do it. Get over it.'

'I don't want to have sex with you Potter.'

'_You _aren't having sex with me Malfoy, Ernie and Justin are having sex. Just think of it as weird Wizarding role-play.'

'You know about Wizarding role-play?'

Draco was looking at Harry with a raised eyebrow and Harry rolled his eyes, 'I'm with Daphne, remember?'

Draco laughed, 'Fair point.' He said as he and Harry re-entered the hall after following Ernie and Justin who had thankfully just left the hall for a walk in the rose garden outside.

'You're back just in time!' Hermione said to them, grabbing them and bringing them over to the table, 'McGonagall is about to announce the awards.' Draco and Harry sat back down at the table as McGonagall stood at the front of the hall and called for silence.

'It is time to announce the costume prizes!' McGonagall said with a smile, she wasn't wearing a costume, just dress robes, but pretty much everyone else had made an effort. Colin had dressed up in a suit and cape and worn a half mask, it was clear to Harry and Hermione that he was the Phantom of the Opera but no purebloods had any idea who he was meant to be. His little brother Dennis, had gone to the ball with Daphne's little sister Astoria. When Daphne had found out she'd cornered the 6th year and said they so needed to talk about this later. Astoria rolled her eyes and said, 'You're dating the biggest Gryffindork in existence Daph, calm down.'

Dennis had somehow managed to convince Astoria to dress as Mary Magdalene and he had gone as Jesus which had gone down well. Everyone in the hall knew who Jesus was because he had been a Wizard, better known by the name Jesusoas Ravenclaw. He was the twin brother of Rowena Ravenclaw and had gone into the Muggle world to help the poor people. However Dennis had no idea and for this reason everyone found his costume rather amusing. Lavender and Seamus had gone to the ball together but had been kicked out very early into the night.

They had walked in together with Seamus wearing black robes and a white mask on his face, his eyes were red and it was clear he was Voldemort. Lavender next to him had worn a black dress with cuts and gashes in it and had styled her hair so it was all curly and messy and had obviously aimed to look like Bellatrix. McGonagall had curtly told them their outfits were sick and offensive and they had been banned from the ball for the rest of the night. Harry and Hermione hadn't been able to contain their laughter at the pair of fools.

Zacharias Smith and Megan Jones had gone as Merlin and Morgan le Fay which was pretty un-original and Mandy Brocklehurst had gone as the Muggle version of a Witch. Terry had gone as Zeus and Tessie and Isabelle had teamed up to come up with the most revealing outfits they could think of. Tessie was a 'sexy Death Eater' she was wearing robes that were cut open to show her stomach and where extremely short. Isabelle was an Auror with a short black skirt and cut off white blouse with 'AUROR' across the back in thick black writing. Michael Corner and Ginny had both gone as dead Quidditch players which was pretty cool. Michael was in an old set of Ravenclaw robes and he'd used glamour charms to make himself look like a zombie. He'd very cleverly managed to make it look like he had a snitch stuck in his head as he played seeker. Ginny's outfit was similar but she was wearing Gryffindor robes and instead of a snitch she had part of a quaffle stuck in her head.

'The first prize is for the overall best costume,' McGonagall announced, holding up a gold trophy with a figure on it. She glanced at the bit of paper in her hand, 'The prize is joint and goes to Neville Longbottom, Hannah Abbott, Blaise Zabini and Luna Lovegood, who came as the Hogwarts founders.'

Everyone clapped as the quartet walked up to McGonagall to collect their trophy. When they were there McGonagall made 4 copies of the trophy and when she handed it to each person the figure took shape of the person who'd won the award and the costume they were wearing.

When Neville, Hannah, Blaise and Luna sat back down and the clapping had died down McGonagall announced the winner of the second prize, 'The next prize is for the scariest costume,' she consulted her sheet of paper, 'and it goes to Michael Corner and Ginny Weasley who came as Dead Quidditch players.'

Michael and Ginny hi-fived each other and made their way over to McGonagall where they collected their trophies. Once they had sat back down McGonagall said, 'The next prize is for the most original costume,' there was a lot of laughter in the audience and McGonagall even chuckled as she said, 'and I think we all agree that Ernie MacMillan and Justin Finch-Fletchely deserve this award for their costumes of Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter.'

The applause was loud as Justin and Ernie as Harry and Draco walked over to McGonagall and accepted their trophies. The real Harry and Draco shared a look of disgust as they had a victory kiss and the whole hall erupted in laughter.

'And last but not least,' McGonagall said, still smiling around the hall, this prize goes to the best dressed couple of the night,' her eyes fell on the table that Harry and Draco's group were occupying and she said, 'and the prize goes to Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass.'

The table erupted in laughter because Daphne and Harry were the _only _two people at the table who _weren't _in a relationship. The colour in Harry's cheeks rose but Daphne grinned, finding the funny side in the situation she grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him over to McGonagall.

'Very impressive costumes,' McGonagall said to them both as she held out a trophy. Daphne and Harry both touched it at the same time so that they appeared on the trophy holding hands in their Halloween outfits. Daphne smiled and thanked McGonagall, she took the trophy and she and Harry made their way back over to the table to applause, lots of it.

'You two might as well just get together now then,' Theo cackled but Sadie glared at him as Daphne laughed and said, 'Yeah right!' Hurt flickered across Harry's face but the second Daphne looked at him his mask was back on, 'I know, as if.' He joked, trying his best to fake a laugh.

The rest of the night passed smoothly, Harry danced with lots of girls, he danced with Daphne a lot, and he drank a lot of punch, but it could have been better, he could have been Daphne's boyfriend, they could have really been a couple.

The longer the night went on the more Harry just wanted it to end; he wanted to be alone in the confines of his dormitory so he took his leave of them all early and managed to slip out of the hall at around 11.30pm. He hurried up to the common room which was empty save for Seamus and Lavender who glared at him when he walked in. Harry ignored them and made his way up to his dorm room. The second the door shut behind him he pulled off his stupid Halloween costume and threw it onto the floor. He got into his bed and grabbed a box from underneath it, and then he drew the curtains around the bed and put a muffliato charm on them. He pulled the picture he'd gotten from Neville out of the box and stared at it for a while, then he grabbed a stack of photos he'd gotten from Grimmauld place, he'd found them in Sirius's room.

Harry let the tears fall on the old faded pictures as he looked at pivotal moments in the lives of his long dead parents.

A picture of James feeding Harry and Lily standing behind him, smiling at the camera.

A picture of James and Sirius with their arms around each other, just out of Hogwarts, grinning happily.

A picture of Lily and Sirius dancing at the wedding.

A picture of Lily and James sitting under an oak tree at Hogwarts, James playing with a snitch and Lily reading a book.

A picture of James, Lily and Sirius at the wedding, Lily in the middle of her two boys.

A picture of Sirius and Remus holding Harry with Lily and James watching their baby from the sidelines.

A picture of James on the table on one knee in front of the great hall as he proposed to Lily in their 7th year.

Harry cried harder at every picture. He might have been a 19 year old boy, who was strong enough to save the entire Wizarding world, but he was still human and he still hurt. He still missed his parents every single day and today more than most days. It had been 18 years, they'd been dead 18 years and it still hurt as much as it had when Harry had been a little boy. He still missed them with all of his heart, he still longed for them every day. He closed his eyes tightly and sobbed his heart out, he sobbed like he'd never sobbed before. He cried for them, for his parents, his brave heroic parents.

TBC


	23. She's One of Those Girls

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 23 – She's One of Those Girls, Nothing but Trouble**

When Harry woke up on the 1st of November he had never before been so glad to see the month of October end. His eyes were red and sore, his head ached and he felt like he hadn't slept for days. Truthfully it hadn't been days of sleepless nights, just the one, but last night had been his worst night since Sirius had died.

He knew he'd cast spells around his bed so he wouldn't be discovered but he must have fallen asleep sometime in the early morning and during that time the spells wore off, and someone found him.

'Harry...' the voice said gently, as a hand came through the curtains and pulled them a little apart to peek at the boy-who-lived.

'What do you need Neville?' Harry asked weakly, trying to hide his reddened face from his friend.

'You helped me out Harry, when I needed it the most,' Neville said slowly, 'and right now you look like you need to talk,'

Neville was right, Harry did _need _to talk but that didn't mean that he wanted too, talking meant bringing up old memories and feelings and that meant more embarrassing tears, 'Thanks for the offer Neville, but I'm fine.'

'No, you aren't,' Neville said, eyes narrowed, 'because you do this thing when you're upset, you push people away with that cold attitude, why do you do that Harry when people are just trying to help you?'

Harry sighed, his head was pounding like someone was hitting him with a hammer, 'I don't know Neville,' he admitted, sounding dejected, 'I suppose I used to do it because the people I love got hurt and if I pushed them away then Voldemort wouldn't hurt them,' he paused thoughtfully and shrugged, 'I guess now I do it out of habit.

Neville climbed into Harry's bed and sat cross-legged at the end of it, 'So, I assume your breakdown last night was because of your parents?'

'It doesn't matter Neville, you wouldn't understand.'

The moment the words were out of Harry's mouth he realised what he'd said and with a glance at Neville he knew he had said the wrong thing. Neville's eyes flashed dangerously, 'I wouldn't understand? Your parents might have died that night Harry but I lost mine too!'

'I know, Neville, I didn't think, I'm sorry,' Harry said quickly, he was crestfallen; he couldn't lose Neville, one of the only true friends he'd had since he started Hogwarts.

Neville looked at him for a moment as if trying to gage whether he really was sorry, but all he could see was a boy who looked extremely fed up and depressed, like he'd been through a war, or two. Neville sighed, he knew Harry hadn't meant it; he was in one of those moods where he didn't think about anybody else's feelings, 'I know, but I'm just saying, you aren't the only one who had a tough night last night. All I could think about last night when I was trying to have a good time with Hannah was that she was never going to meet my Grandma now, and she would never meet my parents either,' Neville looked down and shook his head, 'I mean sure she _can _meet my parents but it would be more like meeting corpses than people.'

Harry felt it was safe to confide in Neville, he felt like he could tell Neville anything, they'd both been through so much together and they were so similar that he knew he could trust Neville to be there and not tell anyone about it later. He trusted Hermione that much, and he was getting to trust Draco in such a way too, but for the moment when it came to talking about his parents he trusted Neville and his fellow Gryffindor understood better than most too.

'Last night I tried to have a good time, and I did, for a while,' Harry admitted, he'd enjoyed himself for the most part, 'but then Daphne made that comment about us as a couple and I know it had nothing to do with my parents but it just triggered something in my head,' Harry shook his head as if to rid the thoughts from it, 'I haven't looked through the pictures of them I got from my Godfathers house since I found them after the final battle and when I looked at them last night-' Harry's voice broke and he shook his head, angrily wiping his eyes.

Neville understood how he felt, 'Harry, how do you think I felt when I went back to my parent's house that day?' he asked although Harry knew it was a rhetorical question, 'I know it's hard, especially on days like yesterday, but we have to accept that they are gone and they aren't coming back.'

Harry nodded, pulling himself together enough to manage a weak smile, 'Thanks Neville.'

Neville nodded and got up, 'No problem,' he said, smiling at his friend, 'I just don't want you to end up like Snape did.'

Leaving him with that thought Neville closed the curtains and Harry heard his footsteps walk toward the door then fade away as he made his way downstairs to the common room. Harry sighed, he didn't want to become like Snape either, cold and bitter and lonely. He knew breaking things off with Daphne was the right thing to do but it wouldn't make him happy, then again staying with her like this wasn't making him happy either. Harry pulled himself out of bed and got dressed, yes he was miserable, but he couldn't stay this way forever, he'd had enough misery for a lifetime in the last few years. As he pulled on a jumper he decided to do something to get him out of his rut so with a smile at his idea he grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill and scribbled out a quick letter. Once he was done he looked over it,

_Dear George,_

_I hope you are doing better now, and that things are good with the shop. I hear Ron's working there, is he doing okay? Tell him that I miss him if you get the chance. Things here aren't great, October brings back bad memories so I wanted to do something to raise moral on the 5__th__ of November. In Muggle tradition its bonfire night so we have firework displays and a huge fire and theres a big party. I thought it would be perfect, but we need someone to do the fireworks, up for it? (Bring Ron too, if he wants to come)._

_Hope to see you soon,_

_Harry_

Happy with the letter Harry folded it and put it in his pocket then made his way out of the dorm room on route to the owlery.

He got halfway across the common room without being noticed, but unfortunately he didn't make it to the door.

'Potter!'

Harry recognised her voice straight away so he didn't turn around, he continued to the door without even glancing at her but she followed him out of the common room anyway.

'Harry, I know you're ignoring me.'

That made him stop, she'd called him Harry. That was only the second time she'd ever called him by his first name. He found himself smiling a little at how good his name sounded on her lips.

'You just called me Harry,' he said, turning to the blonde girl who shrugged and said, 'Yeah, it's your name, isn't it?'

'It is,' Harry agreed, his smile now turning into a grin, 'but you never call me it.'

Daphne rolled her eyes but she was smiling too, 'Wow if I knew all it would take to cheer you up was call you by your first name I'd have started months ago.'

Harry was still grinning as he said, 'I'm on my way to the owlery, what did you want to talk about?' he turned and started to make his way down the spiral staircase giving Daphne no option but to come with him if she wanted to talk.

'I wanted to apologise for last night,' Daphne said, hurrying after Harry and walking by his side as they made their way down the stairs and out of the tower, 'what I said was uncalled for.'

'It was,' Harry agreed, still angry at her, 'I didn't realise the thought of being my girlfriend disgusted you that much.'

'Potter,' Daphne sighed, making Harry's face harden, so she was back to Potter again now, 'It didn't, it doesn't, it's just I-'

'Don't do relationships,' Harry finished for her, 'I know, you've told me several times.'

'You used to be fine with it,' Daphne said, not angry or annoyed, just confused about what had changed.

'I never used to have feelings for you Daphne,' Harry said as he spun on his heel. Daphne's eyes widened and she froze, 'I'm not going to hide it anymore, before it was simple, but now it's complicated and this little play by play just isn't enough anymore.' Harry said bitterly, sounding more and more like Severus Snape, he turned and walked away, leaving her standing on the stairs behind him.

* * *

><p>Harry and Daphne didn't talk all weekend. Harry got back from the owlery after sending his letter to George and then sat at the opposite side of the common room from the Slytherin and her two best friends. He took out his homework diary and started to write up a DADA essay about the unforgivable curses; their effects, the damage they caused and the consequences of using them.<p>

'Harry-'

'No I would not like to talk to her, yes I did tell her I have feelings for her, yes I know she only does flings but I still feel betrayed,' Harry said to Hermione who glared at him and sat down, 'I was going to ask if you knew the 6th consequence of the Imperius curse actually.'

'Oh,' Harry bit his lip, 'Sorry?'

Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled, 'Forgiven. You have me intrigued now, whats happening with Daphne?'

Harry put his quill down and glanced over his shoulder to make sure that the girl wasn't within hearing distance, 'This morning she apologised for last night and said she didn't understand what was wrong because I used to be fine with her 'I don't do relationships' thing so I told her that before I didn't have feelings for her and walked away.'

'Wow,' Hermione said, frowning a little as she did when she was concentrating, 'So you really put yourself out there for her,' at this Harry just shrugged and Hermione shook her head, 'I like her, she's becoming one of my best friends but she's stupid, I know she likes you, I really don't understand why she's being this way.'

'Whatever the reason I don't think I can wait around for her much longer.' Harry said, picking up his quill and changing the subject, 'The 6th consequence of the Imperius curse is that the victim can be imprisoned or killed for what they were forced to do under the curse.'

Hermione understood where Harry was coming from and why he needed time so she smiled, 'Thanks Harry,' she said as she made her way back over to her table.

At dinner time on Saturday Harry and Daphne sat as far apart as they could within their small friend group. Harry was sitting by Theo and Draco when McGonagall walked into the hall with the most beautiful girl Harry had ever seen. The girl smiled around the hall as she walked towards them with the Headmistress, her smile was mesmerising. Her long blonde hair flowed behind her and her face was immaculate, she was perfect.

McGonagall said something to the girl who nodded and smiled as the Head teacher stood up and called for silence. The hall fell silent gradually and then made an announcement, 'We have a new student starting this year, she's a little late but I'm sure she will catch up. Miss. Delacour is a 7th year but she'll be staying in the 8th year dormitory because there is no extra room in the house dorms. She was sorted earlier today and is a Slytherin. I'd ask you all to help her in any way you can.'

With the announcement over McGonagall made her way over to the 8th year table with the girl and Harry gaped as he realised who she was, 'Gabrielle!'

The girl turned the most dazzling blue eyes to Harry and gasped, 'Harry!'

They both grinned as Harry jumped up from the table and hugged her, 'Wow you've grown up since I last saw you!'

Gabrielle laughed, 'I know! The last time we met was at Fleurs wedding, right?'

They had met briefly at the wedding but even in a year Gabrielle had grown so much, he couldn't believe she was 17; she must have been about 13 when they first met in Harry's 4th year if that was the case, the same age as Ginny.

Harry nodded, 'Yeah, we danced together,' they had danced and laughed at the wedding before it had all gone wrong, 'I'm sorry that the Death Eaters wrecked the place.'

Gabrielle shook her head, 'Oh don't be silly, it was still a lovely night.'

McGonagall cleared her throat and Harry blushed a little, 'I see you two remember each other,' she said, almost teasing Harry who nodded, 'Yes, I know Gabrielle's older sister.'

McGonagall just nodded as she said to the others, 'Gabrielle will join you in your common room, at your table and in several of your classes, please make her feel welcome,' the others said they would or nodded and McGonagall turned to Harry, 'since you two already know each other you can show Gabrielle around.'

With that McGonagall left and Gabrielle grinned at Harry as she sat down in an empty seat next to him, 'Wow, you look great Harry, I can't believe it's only been a year.'

'Same to you,' Harry said as he tucked into his dinner, she'd gotten so much older and beautiful in a year's time.

Gabrielle laughed as she took some food and started to eat as well, 'Well, I have an excuse,' she admitted, 'because I'm part Veela I age differently. Up until the age of 16 Veela's don't change much but then in a short space of time they mature to the age of around 18 or 19, so technically I'm the same age as you.'

'Wow, that's...different,' Harry said as he tried to get his head around it all, Gabrielle laughed again, it was such a beautiful sound, 'So, tell me all about your adventures after the wedding!'

* * *

><p>'<em>Who<em> is she?'

'Who _is_ she?'

'Who is _she_?'

Sadie, Tracey and Daphne were glaring in the general direction of Harry and the new girl, the new _French _girl.

'Look at them!' Daphne hissed, 'look at them grinning and laughing!'

'You're jealous Daphne,' Hermione said from her spot across the table from the Slytherin girl, she knew that Gabrielle had probably turned up her Veela charm for Harry, but Daphne didn't and Hermione wasn't going to tell her, she deserved a little bit of payback for the way she'd been treating Harry.

'I am not!' Daphne said, a little too loudly, then she quieted down and said, 'I am not jealous, Potter can do whoever he wants, I mean look at her, she's a cheap French version of me.'

'Wow, Daphne, I have _never _seen you like this,' Sadie said, staring at her friend in disbelief. Tracey snorted, she'd known Daphne longer and they'd always been closer than Daphne and Sadie had been, 'I have, at the end of 6th year when-'

'Tracey, shut up,' Daphne said, her eyes flashing dangerously as she looked at Tracey, her friend got the hint and shut her mouth.

'I'm going for a walk,' Daphne said, standing up and making her way out of the hall, Draco sighed and kissed Hermione on the cheek, 'I'd better go after her, I'll see you later,' then he stood up and followed Daphne from the hall.

* * *

><p>On Sunday Harry got up and didn't see Daphne in the common room which was nice because it meant he didn't need to try and avoid her. He smiled as he met Gabrielle ready for her tour of Hogwarts.<p>

'Good morning tour guide,' Gabrielle teased as Harry offered her his arm, she smiled broadly and took it, 'Ready for your tour Madam Delacour?'

Harry and Gabrielle walked around Hogwarts, Harry pointing out things like their classrooms, and the library.

'So, did you ever get back together with Ginny?' Gabrielle asked conversationally.

'I did,' Harry said, 'but it didn't last.'

Gabrielle seemed pleased about this, 'Oh, so you're single?'

Harry thought about this for a moment as they walked along the 3rd floor, 'That's our Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, and yes, I'm single.'

For all intents and purposes he was single, he hadn't slept with Daphne since just before the Halloween Ball and he sure as hell wasn't in a relationship with her. Gabrielle didn't say anymore on the subject as Harry continued to show her around the school but then they went out for a walk in the grounds and coming from France Gabrielle had a much thinner winter cloak than the students of Hogwarts.

Harry chuckled and took off his own cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders, 'Why are you doing your last year at Hogwarts?' Harry asked curiously.

Gabrielle smiled; she wondered when that question would come up, 'My parents moved to England to be closer to my sister now that she's expecting a baby.'

'Oh, how is Fleur?' Harry asked, she must be pretty far along now.

Gabrielle smiled happily at the thought, 'She's 7 months along now, and she's huge but she still manages to look gorgeous.'

Harry laughed, that sounded a lot like Fleur, 'That's great,' he said, he was happy for Bill and Fleur.

They walked around a little more but soon Gabrielle was shivering with the cold, she turned to Harry, her lips slightly blue, 'Do you think you can warm me up, Harry?'

The way she said his name sent shivers down his spine and before he realised what he was doing he was moving towards her, it was as if his brain was shutting down and instinct was kicking in as Gabrielle got so close he could feel her breath.

The tension was killing Harry as he closed the small gap and kissed her, his hands went to her hair as she wrapped hers around his neck. Her lips were so soft and Harry melted into the kiss, he stopped thinking about anything apart from how good this moment was, his mind was completely blank. When the kiss broke Harry knew something was wrong, 'I'm sorry Gabrielle, I need to go.'

Leaving the girl frowning and wearing his cloak Harry hurried into the castle.

* * *

><p>Daphne was writing up a Charms essay about the Fidelius charm and its complications when she looked up to check the time and instead saw something that made her want to scream. She had caught a glimpse of Harry and the new French girl walking in the grounds. Harry took his cloak off and gave it to her and they walked around for a little longer before stopping by the lake and then, no, way, they were not going to kiss.<p>

'Ugh!' Daphne stood up and stomped from the common room to the dorm that Draco shared with Theo and Blaise. When she burst the door open it was to find Draco lounging on his bed with a suspiciously Muggle looking book titled 'Lord of the Rings', ever since he'd started dating Hermione he'd been reading Muggle nonsense.

'He kissed her! He actually kissed the little French slut!'

'Hey Daphne,' Draco said as Daphne began to pace the circular room, 'I mean I was saving myself for him! Ever since this whole thing started with him it was only him! But then he goes off with some French bitch!'

'Daphne, you haven't been saving yourself for anyone, your usual suspects have moved on and grown up, unlike you, he's the only viable option for good sex that you have,' Draco said, telling it like it was, that was how he'd always been with Daphne, he knew how shallow she could be, but on the other side of the coin he knew how good a person she could be.

'What the hell do you mean my usual suspects?' Daphne asked, glaring at Draco.

'Blaise, he's with that Gryffindor now. Roger Davies is dating that Chang girl now. Theo could have been but he's in love with Sadie.' Draco said, listing each person on his fingers.

'And you Draco?' Daphne asked bitterly, 'What about you? You were one of those suspects once.'

Draco's glare was just as vicious as Daphne's as he said, 'Just because I broke your heart it doesn't mean that everyone else is going too Daphne, you need to stop sleeping around and start trusting your heart.'

'Don't even try to talk to me about that Draco,' Daphne spat as she stormed from the room, out of the common room and to the room of requirement, she needed to be alone.

* * *

><p>Harry was standing outside of the portrait of the Fat Lady.<p>

'I'm Harry Potter; I saved the Wizarding world, _twice_! Let me in please.'

'I don't care how many times you saved the Wizarding world, if you don't have the password you are not getting into the common room.'

'Oh come on! You know me!' Harry whined, but luck was in his favour today because at that moment the portrait swung open and Ginny climbed out, 'Harry! What are you doing here?'

'Ginny!' Harry said, hugging the redhead, 'Thank God!'

'Um, are you okay?' Ginny asked, looking worried.

Harry shook his head, 'Are you in a hurry?'

Ginny smiled, 'No, I was on my way to the library to write an essay so please feel free to distract me.'

Harry pulled her into the nearest empty classroom and said, 'Ginny, I think I was possessed.'

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him, 'Harry, Voldemort is gone...'

'I know, but I think I'm being possessed,' Harry said and he looked so scared that Ginny believed him. She sighed and bit her lip, 'Have you experienced any blank periods where you don't know what you've been doing?'

Harry nodded and Ginny's eyes widened, 'So you've found yourself somewhere with no idea how you got there?'

Harry nodded again and Ginny asked him to elaborate. He sighed, his head was hurting, it had been hurting since he opened his eyes and realised he'd kissed Gabrielle, 'Well I remember sitting at dinner and being angry at Daphne then all of a sudden I was in the common room writing up an essay.'

Ginny frowned, 'How much time did you lose?'

'That time, only an hour, but then today I remember getting up and the next thing I know I'm opening my eyes and I've just kissed Gabrielle,' Harry said, his heart beating out of his chest, he couldn't believe he'd kissed her, he had been vaguely attracted to her and she had this charm about her that drew him in, but he had never wanted to kiss her.

'How much time?' Ginny asked, looking slightly afraid too now.

'3 and a half hours,' Harry said quietly and Ginny cursed under her breath, 'Wow, Harry, that isn't good.'

'I know,' Harry said, he was worried that Voldemort was back or that someone like Voldemort was around trying to possess him, but he knew it couldn't be, the part of Voldemort inside him was definitely dead and gone, he couldn't talk to snakes anymore, that's how he knew.

'We're going to the hospital wing,' Ginny said, grabbing Harry by the arm and dragging him down a shortcut to the 1st floor. Harry didn't object because he knew it was probably a good idea, if he had something physically wrong with him this was causing this then he wasn't being possessed.

When the duo made their way into the hospital wing Madam Pomfrey hurried over and anxiously asked what was wrong. Ginny smiled, 'Nothing life-threatening, at least, so we hope,' she said, looking at Harry as if asking him to elaborate.

'I've been having blank periods, I find myself somewhere with no idea how I got there,' Harry explained to the matron who made a fuss over him and told him to lie down, close his eyes and remain as still as he could. Ginny watched anxiously as Madam Pomfrey mumbled a spell that made the tip of her wand light up pink, she then moved it around Harry's head and the skin around his head and his skull went translucent so that the brain could be seen, it was both fascinating and creepy.

'That's unusual,' Madam Pomfrey said, looking closer before ending the spell, 'you can sit up dear.'

Harry sat up and Madam Pomfrey said, 'There is a liquid in your brain that is very similar to the liquid left behind from the Imperius curse, similar but not the Imperius curse.'

Harry frowned, 'Is it dangerous?'

'I don't think so, but I think you ought to be careful,' the matron advised, 'if someone is using a spell or a potion to take control of you it's something you can fight if you're prepared for it.'

Harry nodded; he was completely confused about why someone was trying to take control of him, but he thanked Madam Pomfrey and the moment he and Ginny were out of the hospital wing they both came to the conclusion that if anyone would know what was happening to Harry it would be Hermione.

* * *

><p>When Harry and Ginny walked into the 8th year common room Harry was glad that Gabrielle wasn't around. He made his way over to the chair where Hermione was sitting and said, 'Mione, you need to help me.'<p>

Hermione looked up from her essay and frowned when she saw Ginny standing next to Harry, 'Hey Harry, oh hey Gin.'

'Hermione, Harry is being possessed,' Ginny said anxiously and Harry nodded, 'Madam Pomfrey said that it's similar to the Imperius Curse but different.'

'Okay, explain from the beginning,' Hermione said, frowning and concentrating as Harry told her the same story he'd told Ginny earlier.

'It happened twice. Yesterday I remember sitting down in the great hall for dinner and then the next thing I knew I was writing an essay in the common room. Then today I remember waking up and getting dressed and then I opened my eyes and I was out in the grounds and I'd just kissed Gabrielle.'

Hermione was thinking during the whole story and then her eyes widened, 'Harry, both times you lost time you were with Gabrielle.'

'And?' Harry asked with a frown.

'And she's a Veela.' Hermione said, rushing over to the small library in the common room and grabbing a book, she hurried over and flicked to the right page, 'Veela's produce a pheromone that attracts the male species of Veela and also has an effect on humans. The side effects of this pheromone are that if used too often or in large quantities on a person it can cause memory loss and in rare cases permanent brain damage. This pheromone can be used like the Imperius Curse and leaves behind a residue in the brain that can cause the brain to be 'fuzzy'. Harry, she's been using her charm on you,'

'And it worked, because you kissed her,' Ginny said to Harry who nodded and then groaned, his head falling into his hands, 'I was _going _to try and fix things with Daphne at the fireworks display on Wednesday, if she finds out about this there is no way that's going to happen.'

'She already knows.'

Harry turned to where Sadie had been eavesdropping, the blonde blushed and apologised, 'I'm sorry, I couldn't help over-hearing. Daphne saw you and the new girl kissing out of the window earlier, she rushed off and we haven't seen her since.'

'Great,' Harry muttered, hitting his head off the table. Hermione grabbed him by the scruff of the collar, 'Harry, hitting your head off a table isn't going to do anything except you make lose even more brain cells.'

'What am I supposed to do now?' Harry whined, he had hoped that if he said something with the bonfire in the background and fireworks going off the romance would rub off on Daphne and she'd tell him she had feelings for him too because he was sure she had to feel _something _to let their 'thing' go on for as long as it had.

'You're just going to have to grovel and beg for her forgiveness and explain in you get the chance about the Veela thing, Gin and I will back you up,' Hermione said and Ginny nodded her agreement with a smile.

'Right, grovel and beg,' Harry said, mission get Daphne to stop hating him again, was on.

_**TBC **_


	24. Baby, You're a Firework

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 24 – Baby, You're a Firework**

Harry tried to talk to Daphne in 1st period Potions on Monday, but that didn't work. She'd been working in a group of 3 with he and Draco since Ron had been expelled but now that Gabrielle had joined the class Daphne was paired with her.

'What? No way Slughorn!' Daphne objected, but Slughorn gave her a stern look, 'Work with her Greengrass.'

Daphne stropped about it and loudly set her cauldron up. Draco and Harry knew why of course and Draco muttered, 'If you liked Daphne so much why are you kissing some French girl?'

'I didn't, at least not intentionally,' Harry said, glaring in the direction of Gabrielle, 'she's quarter-Veela.'

'Oh,' Draco realised, 'so she used the charm on you.'

Harry nodded, 'I blacked out, there are whole parts of the day that I don't remember, including that kiss that Daphne's so pissed about.'

'On the bright side,' Draco said, lowering his voice, 'she's jealous as hell so she obviously likes you.'

'Ironic that I find out she likes me by making her hate me,' Harry grumbled, putting too much doxy wings into the cauldron and making it go on fire. Draco rolled his eyes as he lazily cast aguamenti and put the fire out, 'wow, you really need to make up with Daph.'

'Tell me about it.'

On the other side of the room another conversation was happening between Daphne and Gabrielle.

'You better stay away from Harry,' Daphne hissed to the blonde who turned and raised an eyebrow, 'Why would that be? He told me yesterday that he was single.'

This pissed Daphne off, although technically he was single, she thought he'd known there was something between them, something more than just friendship or a fling, 'Yeah he's single, for now, but we're involved.'

Gabrielle laughed quietly, 'He can't like you that much because he kissed me yesterday,' she said smugly.

'Yeah I saw that, but don't worry your pretty little head about it, he's got a thing for blonde Slytherins and he's done much more than kissed me,' Daphne said, she was the smug one now especially because d face fell at this. She covered it up, but not quick enough.

'We'll see, but I'm not giving up,' Gabrielle said, her eyes flashing.

Daphne's eyes flashed too, with determination, 'Neither am I,' she said resolutely, she _was _going to fight this little French girl for Harry and she _was _going to win.

Harry spent his free period 2nd trying to find Daphne but he had no luck in the common room or the library and after checking all the empty classrooms she usually hid in he gave up and met Draco and Theo for break in the covered courtyard. He spent the next 10 minutes whining about how Daphne was avoiding him and wouldn't even give him a chance to explain then the bell rang and the group made their way to 3rd period Transfiguration.

Harry was disheartened when they walked into the room and there was no sign of Daphne, he'd hoped he'd get a chance to talk to her before the lesson started, but the second bell rang and McGonagall walked into the room and there was still no sign of Daphne. It was just as McGonagall was going to shut the door and start the lesson that she walked in, apologised for being late and took her seat next to Harry.

After everyone had their books out McGonagall started the lesson and Harry whispered, 'Daphne, I'm sorry about the kiss, but it wasn't me-'

'Potter! No talking.'

'It sure looked like you that was kissing her-'

'Greengrass! _No _talking.'

'Well, it _was _me, but I was-'

'Potter! I have already warned you once, no talking!'

'You were under what, her charm?'

'Greengrass! If you speak once more you are going to be spending the lesson outside of my classroom!'

'Yes!' Harry hissed, 'I was under this weird-'

'POTTER! GREENGRASS! OUTSIDE!'

Harry and Daphne groaned as they made their way out of the classroom to giggling from their classmates. As the door slammed shut behind them Draco raised his hand.

'Yes, Mr. Malfoy?'

'Professor, did you do that on purpose?' Draco asked causing laughter from Hermione and the rest of their friends who knew what was going on.

A small smile tugged at the corners of McGonagall's mouth as she replied, 'Of course not.'

* * *

><p>Outside in the corridor Harry was glad to get this time alone with Daphne to talk, and Daphne wanted to be back inside so that he couldn't talk to her.<p>

'I was under her charm Daphne, she's quarter-Veela!'

'Part Veela?' Daphne asked; it was obvious she didn't believe him.

'I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. I met her sister Fleur when she came to Hogwarts to be a champion in the tri-wizard tournament and then she married Ron's big brother Bill so trust me I know that their Grandmother was a Veela.'

'Right,' Daphne said, starting to believe him at least a little bit now, 'and she used her 'charm' on you?'

Harry nodded and said, 'Veela produce a pheromone to draw in the opposite sex, the side effects are memory loss and both times she used it on me I wound up somewhere with no idea how I'd gotten there.'

'When?' Daphne asked, frowning, but at least believing him now.

'The first time was Saturday at dinner, I remembered getting to the great hall but then I was in the common room all of a sudden. The second time was yesterday, I remember getting up and dressed then I opened my eyes and I'd just kissed Gabrielle,' Harry explained very quickly before she stopped believing him and started thinking he was crazy.

'Okay I know all about the Veela pheromone, I wrote an essay about it in Potions 2 years ago, but I didn't think it could be controlled,' Daphne said, she was now intrigued and Harry was glad she wasn't angry at him.

'They can turn it up if they want too,' Harry explained, 'Fleur used it to get her way when she was in the Triwizard Tournament. I thought I was being possessed at first so I went to Ginny who was possessed by Voldemort and she said it seemed that way so she made me go to the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey told me that it was like the Imperius curse, but different, that's when I knew.'

'What a _bitch!_'

'Language Miss. Greengrass!' McGonagall called from the classroom causing Daphne and Harry to chuckle.

'So you forgive me then?' Harry asked and Daphne narrowed her eyes at him and said, 'I guess so.'

'Well, even though I wasn't in control at the time, I'm sorry,' Harry said, 'but I'm not going to just stand by and pretend that I didn't mean what I said before, on Saturday.'

Daphne opened her mouth to speak but then the door flew open and McGonagall appeared in the doorway, 'Potter, Greengrass, back to class.' Harry glared at the Headmistress for interrupting at the wrong moment and made his way back into the classroom. He hadn't been sitting back down for long when Daphne pushed a piece of parchment into his hands that said simply, _'We'll continue that conversation later,' _Harry looked up at the girl who smiled briefly at him before looking back down to his textbook, maybe there was some hope yet.

* * *

><p>They didn't get a chance to talk until much later that day, they were at separate tables in Herbology and in DADA they were all paired up to duel with Harry paired up with Neville on the opposite side of the room from Daphne and Hannah. Harry actually got beaten by Neville twice but he still won overall because he triumphed over Neville 4 times. The day ended with double Divination in which Harry actually sat next to Daphne but couldn't talk to her because Sadie and Tracey were at their table too.<p>

Even at dinner they were surrounded by the others and it wasn't until late that night that they found themselves alone in the common room.

'Hey,' Harry said, somewhat shyly as he sat down next to Daphne on the couch.

The Slytherin smiled at him, 'Hey Harry.'

Getting right down to the point Harry said, 'This can either end or become something more, but I just can't continue with the way it is.'

Daphne nodded, looking down at her hands, 'I understand,' she admitted, 'it's not enough for me either; it hasn't been for a while.'

'Then why pretend?' Harry asked, he really didn't understand it, 'you know that I've felt more for you, you know I'd have accepted it.'

'Honestly, I'm afraid,' Daphne said, looking up at him and for the first time he saw her vulnerable, the mask was down, 'I dated someone who broke my heart and I didn't want to feel that pain anymore so I kept everyone at arm's length.'

'How am I different?' Harry asked gently and Daphne laughed quietly, 'I don't know, I just know that you are, you got under my skin in a way that no one has since...' she trailed off but Harry smiled, 'So you do have feelings for me?'

Daphne rolled her eyes and mumbled something about Gryffindors being impatient but then she looked him in the eye and said, 'Yeah, Harry, I have feelings for you, but they confuse me and I just need time to work through it.'

Harry nodded, he understood that because it had taken him time to come to terms with his feelings for Daphne, granted it hadn't helped that he had been in a relationship with Ginny when he started to have those feelings, but all the same he understood, 'I understand that, take as much time as you need.'

'Thanks Harry.' Daphne said, standing up and hugging him, 'I'll see you tomorrow, goodnight.'

Harry smiled. 'Goodnight,' he said as he watched her go up the stairs, he was ecstatic really, she'd admitted she had feelings for him too, everything in the world feel right for a change, he made his way up to his own dorm with a bounce in his step.

* * *

><p>At breakfast on Tuesday Harry and Daphne shared a small smile and sat together while McGonagall stood and made an announcement.<p>

'Mr. Potter has come up with a proposal for tomorrow night. In Muggle tradition the 5th of November is called 'Bonfire night' and the Muggles have a large bonfire and a fireworks display, so to raise moral we are having such a display tomorrow at 7pm by the lake. You are permitted to have an after-party in your common room as all morning classes are cancelled on Thursday. _However _these parties must end by midnight and must not be so loud that they disrupt members of staff.' McGonagall pointedly glared at the 8th year table who looked sheepish and then she thanked the students for listening and sat back down.

Everyone looked excited about the display and the prospect of a party except Daphne who seemed a little anxious about it, but when Harry asked she smiled and said she was fine.

Tuesday and Wednesday passed with relatively little change or drama, although everyone was confused by Harry and Daphne's transition from being flirty with each other to being almost shy around each other. Something that Hermione only saw in Harry when he was nervous about a girl, like in 5th year with Cho. Daphne however had never been the way she was with Harry and Sadie and Tracey knew exactly why, she really liked the boy-who-lived.

When it hit 7pm on Wednesday the entire school was out by the lake. It was cold, as it always was in November but it wasn't raining so everyone was huddled up in winter cloaks, gloves, hats and scarves. Draco, Theo, Sadie, Tracey and Daphne were standing together by the water while Harry and Hermione were on the barge in the middle of the lake with George and his team to help them set up.

When Harry and Hermione stepped onto the barge Hermione was surprised to see Ron, Harry had conveniently forgotten to tell her that there was a possibility of Ron coming. Hermione gasped when she saw him and froze. Ron turned and saw them both, he waved a little awkwardly. Hermione frowned deeply but Harry smiled and waved back, 'I'm going to go talk with Ron briefly before telling George something,' he said to Hermione and then made his way over to Ron.

'Hey,' Ron said slightly awkwardly. He hadn't changed much, his hair was a little longer, and his face a little more sallow but that was all.

'Hey,' Harry said, a bit more brightly, 'I wanted to apologise.'

Ron shook his head, 'If anyone should apologise it's me,' he admitted, 'I'm sorry for being a complete dick.'

'If anyone needs to hear that it's her,' Harry said, motioning at Hermione and Ron nodded, 'I know, but she's moved on, hasn't she?'

Harry nodded, glancing to where Hermione was still stuck to the spot, 'Yeah, she's dating Draco.'

'Are they happy?' Ron asked.

'Very,' Harry replied and to his surprise Ron smiled, 'I'm glad. What about you? I heard things didn't work out with Gin.'

'Yeah, there is someone I like at the moment,' Harry said with a smile, 'and you? Meet anyone special?' they could handle being civil like this but they'd never be best friends again.

'Yeah, this girl who works at the shop,' Ron admitted, he was smiling too, he held out his hand for Harry, 'I know things have changed a lot in a few months but we went through a lot together, so can we at least stay friends? I know we'll never get back to where we were.'

Harry smiled and took his hand, shaking it, 'I think I can handle that,' he agreed, adding, 'I need to ask George about something, you might want to talk to Mione.'

Ron nodded and said he would then Harry made his way over to George to ask him for a favour.

Ron made his way over to where Hermione was frozen, 'Hey Hermione.'

'Hey,' Hermione said weakly, 'you look okay, I'm glad you're okay.'

'Better than ever actually,' Ron said with a smile, 'I've met this girl who works at the shop, she's great and George is making me the manager of the new shop in Hogsmeade.'

Hermione smiled, 'That's great, things are pretty good here too.'

'I heard,' Ron said, motioning at Harry and then said, 'I wanted to apologise for the way I acted, it was stupid and immature.'

Hermione nodded, 'Thank you, for apologising.'

Ron only shook his head, 'I have every reason too.' He smiled and hugged Hermione who hugged him back, still bemused at how okay he was with everything.

Harry chose that moment to come over to the pair of them and say, 'Come on, displays about to start.' He grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her onto the back of his broom, she shut her eyes as they flew back over to the mainland and touched down next to the others.

'Hey,' Draco said, smiling at Hermione and kissing her as she got off the broom shakily, she really hated flying. Harry smiled at Daphne who looked cold and put his arm around her; she didn't object and smiled up at the Gryffindor.

'They're about the light the bonfire,' Harry said to Hermione, 'when it gets going the fireworks are going to go off.'

The bonfire was in the centre of all the students and there was a stuffed figure that was supposed to be Voldemort at the top. On each side of the bonfire stood a teacher and together they raised their wands and shouted, 'Incendio!'

Daphne flinched as the bonfire roared and began to make its way further and further up the stack of wood to the doll of Voldemort. They could feel the heat coming off of it. Harry frowned and looked down at Daphne who was staring at the bonfire with haunted eyes, eyes that were filling with tears.

'Daphne-' Harry began; about to ask her what was wrong, but it was too late she shrugged his arm off of her and hurried away from the bonfire, pushing through the crowd. Scared and worried Harry ran after her, pushing through crowds of annoyed students until he finally caught up with her underneath the big oak tree that his Father had tortured Snape by. She had sunk down onto the cold, wet ground and had her head in her hands crying. Harry was surprised; he'd never seen her like that before.

'Daphne,' Harry said gently, sitting down next to her and placing his arm around her shoulder, 'are you alright?'

She didn't speak, she just shook her head. Harry frowned, 'What's wrong? Was it the fire?'

Daphne nodded and then looked up, wiping her eyes, 'I'm scared of fire,' she admitted in a small voice; she was extremely vulnerable right now.

'Oh,' Harry realised, kicking himself for not realising sooner, she had seemed anxious about the whole bonfire and fireworks display but he hadn't put two and two together, 'I'm sorry, I didn't realise.'

Daphne shook her head, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, 'It's okay, you didn't know.'

'Do you want to talk about it?' Harry asked; he was aware she was still upset, but was glad she'd stopped crying.

'It was my Father,' Daphne admitted, looking down at the ground, 'growing up he abused my Mother and I, luckily my sister avoided the worst of it, he's dead now, he died in the final battle.'

'God,' Harry muttered, 'what did he do?'

Daphne sighed and looked back down, her hands were shaking. Harry followed her line of sight and grabbed her hands to steady them. Finally she spoke again, 'When I was around 6 years old my Father and Mother had a fight, my Mother had a lot of affairs and my Father finally noticed. He wanted her gone before the press found out and he wanted it to look like an accident. So he set the house on fire and left us in it,' Daphne's voice was shaking uncontrollably, 'My Mother managed to get my sister and I out with minor burns, but I've been scared of fire ever since.'

'I'm so sorry Daph,' Harry said, pulling her closer and hugging her. He let her cry as she hugged him, when she stopped shaking she pulled back and smiled at him, her face was all red and her eyes were puffy but she was still beautiful, 'Thank you Harry.'

Harry shook his head, 'Don't thank me, I know how it feels, trust me. I grew up with Muggles who wanted to beat the magic out of me. My Uncle forced me to sleep in a cupboard, I had to cook for them, I was basically their slave and when I didn't do what they wanted my Uncle would hit me or get my cousin to beat me up.'

'I had no idea,' Daphne said in shock, 'I always assumed you were raised like a hero, being Harry Potter and all.'

'Yeah, no one would believe that the great Harry Potter was raised by abusive Muggles,' Harry joked, pulling himself to his feet. Daphne frowned as she got to her feet too, 'Don't joke about that Harry.'

Harry was going to apologise when the fireworks started and although they were slightly further away from the lake and the crowd they still had a great view. Harry put his arm around Daphne as the fireworks shot up into the air, fireworks of all different colours, making different shapes in the air. Daphne who'd rarely seen fireworks watched in fascination as the crowd a little further away ooh-ed and aah-ed and cheered.

Once the last firework had fallen from the sky Daphne turned to Harry, but then another set went off and Harry grinned, 'Daphne, look.'

Daphne watched in amazement as the fireworks in the sky took form and spelled out, 'Go out with me Daphne?'

Daphne turned to Harry with wide eyes and Harry's grin widened, 'So, will you?'

Daphne flung herself at Harry and kissed him like she'd never kissed him before, with so much passion and hope and happiness. When she pulled back she said happily, 'Yes, Harry Potter, I will be your girlfriend.'

Harry grinned and kissed her again, 'Thank God, if the fireworks didn't do it I was gonna give up.'

'Who knew you were such a romantic,' Daphne said, grinning broadly.

'There are many hidden sides to me,' Harry said, pulling her in and kissing her, he was ecstatic that she had agreed to be his girlfriend.

* * *

><p>When Daphne and Harry made their way into the 8th year common room they were greeted with applause as everyone took in their joined hands. Draco, Theo and Blaise wolf-whistled and Hermione shouted, 'Finally!'<p>

The party was already in full swing and someone had snuck out to Hogsmeade for butterbeer, Neville had apparently indulged in his secret stack of firewhisky again, _where did he get that stuff?_

Daphne and Harry shared amused grins as they made their way over to the others, Harry with a firewhiskey and Daphne with a butterbeer.

'Told you the fireworks would work!' Draco said with a grin and Harry chuckled, 'Yeah, well it _was _my idea, you just expanded on it.'

Hermione, Sadie and Tracey all made their way over to Daphne, 'So, are you together now?'

'Yes,' Daphne said with a small smile.

'Officially anyway,' Hermione chuckled, and Sadie added, 'Yeah you've been together unofficially for months.'

The others laughed at this because it was very true.

Only one person in the common room didn't look happy about this latest development.

Gabrielle was glaring at them all from the corner, plotting her next move; she wasn't going to let Daphne get Harry that easily, she hadn't given up yet.

She _would _have Harry.

_**TBC **_


	25. Happy Birthday

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 25 – Happy Birthday**

The next few days after the eventful bonfire night passed quickly and happily for almost everyone involved. Harry hadn't been as happy as he was now since the carefree weeks he spent with Ginny in his 6th year and Daphne was glad to break free of the chains she had shackled for herself by being afraid to fall in love. Thursday and Friday passed in a blur. Not much of note happened apart from McGonagall pondering on whether she should separate Daphne and Harry in Transfiguration because they were spending too much time flirting and not enough time working.

What _was _interesting was what happened in Divination on Friday afternoon. After Ron's sudden departure Harry had remained in his seat at Daphne, Sadie and Tracey's table and Gabrielle had joined Susan at his old table, much to the Hufflepuffs dismay. She had described the French girl as a 'self-centred unicorn fairy princess who is used to getting her way.' To be honest, Harry agreed completely with Susan, after what Gabrielle had done to him he wasn't exactly fond of her either and Harry knew for a fact that Daphne couldn't stand her.

Harry found this kind of amusing; the total and complete hatred that flowed out of Daphne towards the French girl, it reminded him how much she liked him, how much she wanted him for herself. He also knew it was more than that though, she didn't often show weakness but she was insecure. She thought Gabrielle was prettier than her, and as she pointed out on Thursday night as she told Harry this, that didn't happen often.

Trelawney's predictions had been true so far, for once. No one had died in her standard start of year prediction, but maybe that was just because she was happier now that Voldemort was gone. However, Ron _had _left and Gabrielle _had _joined them. So who was going to be injured? Probably him, Harry thought to himself, he was unlucky, especially in Quidditch matches, he wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in the hospital wing at least once this year.

The class had just got into the room and settled when Trelawney started her usual dramatics. She threw her hands up into the air and looked around the room with her huge bug eyes, 'Ah! I sense something!' she walked around the room, stopping at Harry and Daphne's table. She pointed at the new couple and smiled, it was a strange sight, she didn't do it often, but it looked like a genuine smile, 'ah, my dears, you have found young love! Wonderful!' she floated away again, back to the front of the room, leaving Harry a little embarrassed and the rest of the class, Daphne included, in fits of laughter.

At the weekend the rest of the 8th years threw a party for Daphne and Harry to celebrate their finally getting together. Harry suspected it had been planned by Draco, Hermione, Theo, Tracey, Dean and Sadie. He also suspected it had very little to do with him and Daphne and that it was just an elaborate excuse for a party, probably Draco and Theo's idea. Harry didn't mind regardless, Neville had snuck to Hogsmeade for butterbeer and snacks from Honeydukes and this time Draco had indulged the others by going into his super expensive firewhiskey stash, of course it was ultra expensive, it was _his_. The party had ended up on the roof as it tended too, even though it was still only November and it was freezing. McGonagall had turned up to tell them to shut up but they'd only moved from the roof to the common room so she couldn't hear them. Neville and Hannah had danced on tables as usual, Seamus had snuck off somewhere with Lavender leaving Harry and Draco to snigger and wish him good luck, Harry knew all about Lavenders obsessive nature from Ron and apparently Draco had gone there too in a what he called a brief moment of insanity in 5th year. Hermione had rolled her eyes and told them off, but they both saw her hiding a grin as she turned away.

Sunday had been fun because a lot of the 8th year were hung-over, those who weren't went out for a friendly Quidditch game to brush up on their skills, it always helped playing with the opposition. Neither Slytherin nor Gryffindor had matches soon, but Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw did. Harry and Draco joined forces to be joint seekers and Ernie and Terry did the same. Daphne, Sadie and Tracey were the chasers for Harry and Draco's team. The keeper was Dean and Neville and Theo were the beaters. On the Ravenpuff team the chasers were Justin, Megan Jones and Padma. The beaters were Hannah and Susan and the Keeper was Zacharias Smith. It was a fun game and it was surprisingly close, it allowed the opposition to assess the faults and strengths of the other players for the upcoming games, it put them on a bit more level ground and Harry was surprised by how good Hufflepuffs were. The game was at 140-160 to the Huffleclaw team when Harry caught the snitch and won victory for the Slythindor team.

The week after that flew by, Harry and Daphne got more comfortable with each other, they finally managed to sneak off and get some time alone, they loved their friends but it was so hard to break away from the group at times and as a young new couple they needed time alone, the others understood and although they spent less time as a large group their friendship did not suffer in any way, in fact it almost improved their friendship. They were all in relationships, so it wasn't like anyone was feeling left out. On Monday Harry and Daphne got split up when Harry got distracted and transformed his squirrel into a large piece of chipped wood instead of a chipmunk. He was sent to sit next to Neville and Hannah was moved away from Neville to Harry's old seat next to Daphne. When Harry grumpily sat down next to Neville his fellow Gryffindor smirked, 'I didn't think I was that bad,' Harry chuckled and said, 'Sorry for getting Hannah moved away,' but Neville only shook his head and said it was fine. They got back to work on their transfiguration and by the end of the lesson Harry had managed to produce a creature with the head of a squirrel and the body of a chipmunk. McGonagall shook her head, trying to hold in a smile, 'Mr. Potter, thank goodness you only need an A in Transfiguration to be accepted into the Auror programme.'

On Tuesday a plan was hatched after watching Parvati and Poliakoff flirt all the way through DADA. The other 8th years decided to help their friend by looking through the rules to find out if there was any way that Parvati could bend the rules and be with Poliakoff because at the moment they couldn't be together with him being her teacher. While all the 8th years knew they were secretly seeing each other anyway the other teachers didn't yet and if they found out then Parvati could be expelled or Poliakoff could be fired and not be allowed to teach again, and nobody wanted that. Parvati was their friend and Poliakoff was a good teacher. The group had met in the room of requirement, even Seamus and Lavender wanted to help and they had all been given jobs from Hermione who had taken it upon herself to lead this little project. Everyone would trawl through the schools rule books and old records to find a loophole, Parvati had no idea, they were planning to surprise her.

On Wednesday Daphne had to try with all of her might not to accidentally spill some of her potion on Gabrielle. Harry and Draco watched with amusement and fear. Draco thought it was hilarious watching Daphne's hand twitch as she gripped the ladle tightly. Harry was worried she was going to kill the French girl. As much as he disliked Gabrielle, he didn't want his girlfriend to go to Azkaban; that would be a relationship killer for sure. They were brewing the draught of living death that lesson.

On Thursday Daphne had enough of the annoying French girl whispering about how she was going to 'steal' Harry and she 'accidentally' sent sparks flying out of her wand which burnt Gabrielle, a tiny bit, she screamed and cried and said her arm was going to fall off and ran out of the classroom to the Hospital wing. Daphne grinned, Slughorn gave her detention and Harry remarked to Draco, 'you sure you don't have a sister? You never know with your Dads track record'. Harry ended up in the hospital wing with an elephant's tusks, Daphne got out of class to accompany him, and they both agreed that he'd probably deserved it.

When Friday came around Harry wasn't as happy as usual, in fact he was feeling extremely down and it had everything to do with the date. It was the 14th of November, if Sirius had been alive now he would have been 40 years old, and that depressed him. He hadn't said anything about it to Daphne but he knew he was going to have too at some point, she could see right through him and she would know that something was wrong. Harry got up earlier than usual and had a look through the photographs he'd found at Grimmauld place, the ones of his Godfather with his Dad and Remus, if Peter had been in the photos Harry had cut him out, he didn't deserve a place in those happy memories after what he had done. They ranged from pictures of 12 year old boys to 20 year old men, their friendship had lasted that long, it had been that special. After trying extremely hard not to cry Harry put the photographs away, pulled himself together, got dressed and went down to the common room. It was still earlier than most people got up so it was empty. Harry walked down to the great hall, sighing as he looked around the school, he wondered how Sirius would feel seeing it now, how it had changed, Slytherins and Gryffindors being best friends, dating even. He'd probably have hated it, would he have been angry at Harry for dating Daphne? Or would he have accepted it? In his heart Harry knew that his Godfather would have been happy as long as Harry was, but he had very strong beliefs and so much had changed since Sirius died.

When Harry reached the great hall there was a small spattering of students but as it was early Friday morning he hadn't expected it to be busy. Harry was about to sit down at the empty 8th year table when Hagrid motioned for him to go over. Only Hagrid, McGonagall and Poliakoff were at the head table.

'Harry, I've got summat ter show yer,' Hagrid said, he looked excited, his hair as wild as ever, he stood up and motioned for Harry to follow him. Harry was confused, but curious so he grabbed some toast off of the 8th year table as he followed Hagrid out of the hall. He took such long strides that Harry wasn't walking alongside him until they got out of great oak doors and into the grounds.

Harry hadn't put his cloak on and it was freezing outside, the ground had started to ice over and when he breathed it made impressions in the air. Harry shivered, 'Hagrid, what is it?' he asked.

'It's a secret,' Hagrid said, winking at Harry, 'it's a present from Sirius.'

Harry frowned, even more confused, Sirius had left him something? Wouldn't he have gotten it when he got everything else that Sirius left for him in his will after his death? Why now, on what would have been Sirius's 40th birthday?

Harry had to jog to keep up with Hagrid as they made their way through the grounds towards Hagrid's hut, he was kind of glad because it kept him warm, but he was extremely curious about what Sirius had left for him and why it had Hagrid so excited. After what felt like an age the giant and the Gryffindor reached the hut and Hagrid finally stopped, he turned to Harry and grinned through his beard, 'Sirius told me ter give it ter yeh on his 40th birthday when yeh were mature enough ter use it properly. Come on, it's round the back.'

Harry's heart was beating out of his chest as he walked around the hut to the area where the pumpkin patch was. Then he saw it, it was next to the pumpkin patch, it was huge and black and gleaming in the early morning sunlight.

'Wow,' Harry said, entranced as he made his way over to the amazing machine, 'Sirius's motorbike.'

Hagrid nodded, still grinning, 'I've had my fair use o' it, its yers now.'

Harry grinned, this was _so _cool. Hagrid seemed to revel in Harry's reaction to the bike, 'Do yeh want to try it out?'

'Yes!' Harry responded immediately and he quickly climbed up onto the huge bike. Hagrid stepped forward, 'This here is yer accelerator an' this is yer brake. Yeh press this button here ter start the engine, and this one ter fly it. Jus' tilt the handles ter steer, alright?'

Harry nodded and Hagrid stepped back as Harry pressed the start button, the engine roared into life and Harry assumed it was the same as a plane so started to pick up speed on the ground before pressing the flight button, the bike instantly raised off the ground and got higher and higher until Harry managed to steady it out.

'Woohoo!' He yelled as he flew the bike round the ground in circles. A small crowd had gathered outside the great oak doors to the school and Harry could see faces pressed against windows. He flew around the school, passing the Gryffindor common room where Ginny was grinning out of the window and then the 8th year common room where Draco and Neville looked on enviously. Daphne was gaping in complete shock as she watched her boyfriend on his _flying _motorbike. Harry flew the bike back around and landed by Hagrid's hut. The giant clapped with his dustbin sized hands, 'Yer a natural Harry!' he praised as Harry jumped off of the bike and ran a hand through his windswept hair.

'Can I keep it?' Harry asked causing Hagrid to laugh, 'Course yeh can, I'll keep it tethered up by the pumpkins fer yeh.'

Harry grinned broadly and thanked Hagrid before making his way back up to the school for some more breakfast, then a day of boasting about his new bike to Draco, Theo and Neville.

* * *

><p>Harry was only a little bit smug that Friday, just a little.<p>

He'd had to fight through admiring crowds telling him how great he was and how cool he was, but that he could handle, he'd had that since he'd defeated Voldemort. When he finally got into the great hall he'd barely eaten two bites of his bacon and egg sandwich when the others burst in and shot questions at him.

'Where the hell did you get a flying motorbike?'

'What the hell _is _a motorbike?'

'Bloody hell Harry; is that Sirius's old bike?'

'How on earth could you fly that thing with no training? You could have crashed!'

'Can I have a ride?'

Harry stopped for a moment and addressed them all one by one, 'Draco, it was my Godfathers so you're right Nev. Theo; a motorbike is a Muggle way of getting around like a car.'

'No wonder you got 'troll' in Muggle studies,' Sadie mumbled, getting a glare from her boyfriend, 'Oi, just cause you got straight O's in everything, geek.'

'The only person to ever get an O in Muggle Studies,' Tracey laughed, causing Hermione to blush and mutter that she got an O too.

'I didn't get straight O's anyway,' Sadie piped up, defending herself, 'I got an A in DADA and an E in Transfiguration.'

Harry shook off the couples bickering and turned to Hermione, 'Hagrid showed me how to use it, and besides its easy,' he moved his eyes to the girl next to Hermione and grinned, 'course you can have a ride.' Daphne smirked; she was such a thrill seeker.

'I'm so jealous mate,' Neville said, shaking his head, 'I'd love a flying motorbike.'

'Me too,' Draco admitted, with a look of longing in his eyes, but Theo made a face, 'I wouldn't, it's just a rubbish Muggle version of a broomstick.'

'But it's so much better than a broom!' Harry, Draco and Neville echoed, all sharing laughter as they realised what they had done.

Over breakfast the others continued to pelt questions at him about the bike and what it could do and how Sirius had gotten it, and why he had it now. Harry happily answered all of their questions, he had a plan brewing but he couldn't implement it straight away. The day passed agonisingly slowly but eventually lunch time came and Harry snuck off, the others noticed he wasn't around but didn't think too much of it. He appeared back at Hogwarts for Divination, but he was 5 minutes late. No more was said on the subject.

* * *

><p>Friday came and went and on Saturday morning Neville was rudely awakened by Harry shaking him. He groaned and covered his face with a pillow.<p>

'Come on Neville, its 10am, I gave you plenty of sleep.'

'What is it?' Neville mumbled; his voice muffled through the pillow.

'I want to show you my new bike; you can even have a ride if you want.'

This got Neville moving, the pillow was gone and he seemed much more awake, 'Really?' he asked brightly. Harry nodded and grinned, 'I'm going to go wake Draco, get dressed.' Neville jumped out of bed and Harry made his way out of his dorm room and up to the very top of the staircase to the room Draco shared with Theo and Blaise. He tiptoed across the room to Draco's bed and poked the boy in the ribs.

'What the...Harry!' Draco was startled when he saw the grinning Gryffindor standing over his bed bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

'Morning Draco.' Harry said brightly as Draco glanced at the time and asked, 'what the hell are you doing in my room?'

'Waking you up, Nev and I are going to the grounds to have another look at my bike, I said he can have a go, you can too if you want to come.'

Just like with Neville these words seemed to magically awaken Draco who was out of bed quicker than Harry could say, 'cool.' He made his way down to the common room, grinning like a Cheshire cat as he awaited his friends. It didn't take long for them to appear and Harry led them down to Hagrid's hut where Fang was snoring on the doorstep.

'Okay, now, I want you guys to know that you are my best friends, so don't feel bad about this,' Harry said, leading them around the hut to where not one, not two, but three motorbikes were tethered up by the pumpkin patch.

'Holy Mother of Merlin...'

'Sweet Salazar...'

Harry grinned as the two boys walked towards their new bikes in complete awe, he'd have felt lonely without anyone to accompany him when he was out flying his new bike, plus, he knew how much his friends wanted their own, and he _was _a teenage millionaire. If he ran short on cash he just had to give an interview or let someone write a book about him, it was a good life.

The bike Harry had picked out for Neville was Gryffindor red with black wheels and a black seat. Draco's was much more elaborate than the other two bikes which were made for cruising and long distance rather than speed, but Harry felt it matched the Slytherins personality. The smooth bike was black with hints of green when the light shone a certain way, even the black tires were tinted with Slytherin green, it was a racing bike, but Harry thought Draco would have fun with it. All of course were modified in the classic style of Harrys, with a start button and a flight button. You locked your bike by placing your wand in a small hole next to the start button, they were all set to the boys wands, it was clever.

'Harry, you are _amazing_, I can't believe we didn't become friends sooner, how did I not know how _cool _you are?' Draco asked, hugging Harry and jumping on the bike to get a feel for it.

Neville was a little more reserved, 'Harry, this must have cost so much...you shouldn't have.'

Harry shook his head, 'I wanted too Nev, but if it bothers you that much I'll take it back for you.'

'No!' Neville blurted out, blushing, 'I mean, uh, thanks Harry,' he climbed up onto the bike and like Draco got a feel for it.

Harry grinned and jumped on his bike, 'So, where are we going?'

'First of all,' Neville said, waving his wand a few times, 'we make sure we're geared up.' Instantly the 3 boys were kitted out in biker jackets with pads at the shoulders and elbows. Amongst the 'gear' were pads for the knees and shins. Harry said, 'Oh, I almost forgot.' He jumped of his bike and made his way over to a small box outside Hagrid's hut, he pulled out 3 biker helmets from it and handed them to his friends.

Neville's helmet was the same red as his bike, with some silver throughout it and a transparent visor. He put it on and pulled the visor down, grinning, 'This is pretty cool.' Next, Harry threw Draco his helmet which was as smooth and elaborate as his bike. It had several different shades of green throughout it as well as black and white and was decorated with straight and twisting lines and patterns, like Neville's his visor was transparent. He put the helmet on reluctantly complaining that he was a Malfoy and Malfoys didn't need protection. Lastly Harry placed his own helmet on his head, in his opinion he had the best one, it was black to match his bike and it was so shiny it gleamed. Unlike the others he had a black visor that he could see out of but others couldn't see into. He grinned and turned to the others as he climbed on the bike, 'Let's test these babies out,' he said, pulling his visor down and taking the lead. Once he was up in the air he realised that Neville and Draco weren't far behind him.

Draco decided to try out the speed of his new racing bike and shot ahead of the others with a rather girlish scream, when Harry and Neville caught up with him Draco had slowed down using the excuse that he 'didn't want to get too far ahead' of his friends. They spent a few hours flying around the grounds and the surrounding mountains and when they got back to school around 1pm, they were all starving.

* * *

><p>'You bought both of them bikes, just like that?'<p>

Harry rolled his eyes, 'Whats the pobwum Hamione, I can awword it.'

Hermione made a face at her friend as he talked through a large mouthful of food, 'That's not the point Harry.'

'It kind of _is _the point Mi.' Draco said, smirking at Harry, but the smirk disappeared upon Hermione's glare, 'Draco, I know you're used to getting everything handed to you on a silver platter but you better think again, life isn't always going to be that kind.'

Draco made a face at his girlfriend, 'I am not used to getting everything I want, you make me sound like a spoiled little brat.'

There was an echo round the table from Harry, Hermione, Daphne, Theo and Sadie, 'You _are _a spoiled brat.'

Draco just rolled his eyes, 'Whatever.'

Harry and Hermione shared a look of exasperation and amusement.

'So, what are you girls doing today?' Harry asked the female population of their little group.

'Library,' they echoed, and Hannah elaborated, 'we have that new project from McGonagall to finish by Monday.'

Harry sniggered, as did Draco and Theo and the girls glared at them all. McGonagall had issued the girls with a task; they were to write up an essay all about the responsibilities of motherhood as a way to reduce the amount of teen pregnancies. It was amusing to the boys because they didn't have to do it.

'Have fun!' Neville called, as the girls left the hall, Hannah gave him a dirty look as he and the others burst out laughing.

'Do you think we should do something tonight with the girls?' Neville asked, thinking about Hannah's reaction when she saw his new bike.

'Yeah, why not.' Harry said, and Draco nodded his agreement, 'Although I think we should keep it a surprise, otherwise Hermione would _never _agree to it.'

'Deal.'

* * *

><p>'Daphneeee.'<p>

'Yes, Harry?'

Harry was smirking, that was never good, 'Do you want to sneak out? Theres something we want to show you.'

Draco and Neville were standing behind him looking suspicious. Daphne stood up, her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed, 'What's going on?'

From behind her Hermione stood up and assumed the same pose, 'Why do you three look so shifty?'

Hannah appeared from the other side of Daphne, looking at them curiously, 'Okay, is it a surprise?'

Neville grinned, Hannah loved surprises, he nodded, 'It's a surprise, but we have to sneak out first.'

'Harry, you have had a bad influence on him,' Hermione said, she was amused, but she shook her head all the same. Neville just grinned even more broadly.

'So, will you come?' Harry asked the three girls. Daphne of course just shrugged and said, 'Sure,' and Hannah nodded eagerly, but Hermione wasn't as easily convinced.

'Tell me what you're doing first,' She said, mainly to Draco who grinned, 'But love, then it wouldn't be a surprise,' he mocked. Hermione scowled and Harry said, 'Oh come on Mione, I promise it will be fun.' She sighed and reluctantly said, 'Oh, _fine_!'

Mission accomplished.

'Some of us should go under my invisibility cloak,' Harry added in undertones so the rest of the people in the common room wouldn't hear, 'I mean we could probably fit 3 of us under there and 3 people sneaking out looks less suspicious than 6.'

'I agree,' Hermione said, 'but who goes under the cloak?'

'I will but you and Neville shouldn't,' Harry said, 'because if McGonagall saw us 3 together she'd know something was up.'

Hermione nodded, not looking happy about being one of the ones to get caught if someone saw them, Neville didn't' seem too bothered and Hannah piped up, 'I'll stay with Neville and Hermione.'

'Well its settled then, I'll go under the cloak with Draco and Daph,' Harry said, realising how awkward that could be considering how close you had to stand together with 3 under the cloak, and Draco was pretty tall. In reality it would have made sense to put the 3 girls under the cloak but if anyone saw Draco, Harry and Neville together they'd know for sure that they were sneaking out.

The group grabbed new clothes and put them in Hermione's magic bag to get changed into when they reached their destination and then they made their way out of the common room and started to walk out of the castle.

Under the cloak Daphne was sandwiched between Draco and Harry who were holding one end of the Marauders map each, they had to detour twice, once to avoid Filch and Trelawney who stumbled down the corridor together, Filch with a firewhiskey bottle in hand and Trelawney with a sherry bottle. The second time was to avoid Professor Sprout who was on patrol duty that night. They got to the grounds with no issues though and they could take a breath of fresh air, literally.

Once in the grounds the problems started. The gang stopped a little way from the front doors to regroup before making their way to Hagrid's hut, unfortunately while they were muttering to each other nobody under the cloak saw McGonagall approaching them from behind on the map.

'Longbottom, what is going on?'

Neville jumped and turned around, Hermione and Hannah were startled and Hermione looked slightly terrified.

'Oh, Professor, well, this is awkward,' Neville said, putting one arm around Hannah and the other around Hermione.

McGonagall narrowed her eyes at the trio, 'Why is that Longbottom?'

'Well, you know, Hannah and I like experimenting and apparently Hermione does too so-'

McGonagall looked shocked and her cheeks flushed pink, 'I think I've heard enough Longbottom! You are aware that Hogwarts students are not permitted to leave the grounds without permission; are you not?'

'Kind of,' Neville said as Hannah tried not to giggle and Hermione tried to stop herself from blushing, 'I mean in the rule book it is stated that students between 1st and 7th year are not permitted to leave the grounds without permission, but as we're 8th years, it doesn't apply, so we'll see you tomorrow Professor,' he smiled at McGonagall and turned around, walking towards the gates with the two girls. McGonagall stood still for a moment then recovered from the shock and shaking her head in exasperation made her way back into the castle.

As the exchange had been going on Harry and Draco had been forced to stand extremely close to Daphne under the cloak and when the coast was clear Daphne said, 'That _better _be your wand Draco.'

Draco frowned, and looked down, 'Oh! It is,' he pulled his wand out of his front pocket and Harry sniggered, 'I wouldn't put it there unless you want to accidentally blow something off.'

Draco looked horrified and put his wand in his jacket pocket, Daphne giggled and with the coast fairly safe they took the cloak off and hurried to catch up with the others who were waiting by Hagrid's hut. Draco walked slightly ahead and Harry whispered to Daphne, 'it wasn't my wand,' he winked at her and she laughed as they caught up with the rest of the group.

'So, why are we out here?' Hermione asked as they all stood outside the hut.

'Oh, just a moonlight stroll,' Harry said casually causing the girls to give him strange looks.

'It's 6.30, it's not even dark yet,' Hermione said with narrowed eyes.

'And why would we go on a moonlight stroll with two other couples?' Daphne asked her boyfriend who shrugged, 'Hey, we're all friends aren't we?'

Hermione sighed, 'Harry, if you plan to take us somewhere on those bikes you can think again, I am _not _getting on one of those death machines.'

'You're such a Muggle,' Draco joked; he got slapped and muttered, 'probably deserved that.'

Harry led the others around to where the bikers were and the reactions were mixed. Daphne grinned, 'Cool! I cannot _wait _to ride this thing!'

Hermione glared between Harry and Draco and said there was no way in hell she was getting on it. Hannah surprised them all by running over the bike and saying, 'Wow! This is a Harley Davidson!'

'Yeah, you know bikes Han?' Neville asked, completely shocked. Hannah nodded, 'Yeah my Dad was a biker,' she said casually as she examined the bike, 'But wow his bike wasn't this cool, he just had a Triumph, like Harry's, but it was much older, and it always broke down.'

They were all stunned into silence for a moment and then Harry dived into the helmet box and brought out helmets for the three girls. He handed Hannah hers first, it was very similar to Neville's; the excited Hufflepuff put it on straight away. Next Harry handed Hermione a helmet, she narrowed her eyes at him, 'Protected or not, we're still flying, I _hate _flying.'

Draco rolled his eyes, 'Aw come on baby, I'll buy you that new book you want, the one about the different uses of dragon blood.'

'Draco, are you bribing me?' Hermione asked, more amused than annoyed now.

'Maybe a little,' Draco admitted, 'Come on, you'll enjoy it, I promise.'

Hermione sighed in defeat and put the green helmet on. Harry grinned and placed a black helmet on Daphne's head. The three boys climbed onto their bikes and Hannah and Daphne quickly climbed up behind and put their arms around the boys, Hermione was more hesitant. She came closer and closer to the bike and eventually she was close enough for Draco to grab, he lifted her up despite her protesting squeals. She gave in and wrapped her arms tightly around Draco, 'I hate you,' she whispered. Draco just grinned, 'I love you too.'

They had already made sure the girls had the same protection as the guys, but seeing them all geared up in leather outfits had given the boys a rather nice eyeful. It had taken them a moment to compose themselves before they could fly the bikes.

'So, where are we actually going?' Draco asked Harry before they started their engines.

'Edinburgh?' Harry suggested, glancing at the air and saying, 'We could get there in an hour, maybe an hour and a half if it rains.'

'Sounds good to me,' Draco said, and Neville nodded, 'Me too, but how are we going to get there?'

'A four point spell?' Hannah suggested and Harry nodded, looking thoughtful, 'Or we could do it the Muggle way and follow the train line?'

'Would that actually work?' Draco asked, sceptical of Muggle technology as usual.

Harry nodded, looking at the time, 'Well, Hogwarts is between Inverness and Aviemore, and the 6.45 train just left Inverness, so if we get lost we can follow it to Edinburgh.'

'How do you know so much about trains?' Daphne asked in confusion. She'd been too scared to speak until now but Hermione said, 'He got bored in the summer between 5th and 6th year and he got trains all around the UK.'

Harry shrugged, not particularly embarrassed about this, 'I know where the railway line is, and I know it will work, it was how Ron and I flew his Dads flying car to Hogwarts for 2nd year.'

The others laughed as they remembered this and then the guys told the girls to hold on tight for take-off. They all started at the same time, gathering speed and then lifting off into the air. Hermione screamed and kept her eyes tight shut until they were flying at a steady speed and height. She opened them and took a deep breath.

'See! That wasn't so bad!' Draco shouted over the rush of the wind. He and Neville followed Harry through the Cairngorm Mountains until a railway line appeared and sure enough there was a train there, rumbling along, they overtook it and Harry said it was fine, he knew the line anyway. Occasionally they flew closer to the ground to check they were on the right track. They passed Aviemore, then Kingussie, Newtonmore, Dalwhinnie, Blair Atholl, Pitlochry, Dunkeld and then they reached Perth. Harry stopped, hovering in mid air and the others caught up.

'Whats up?' Neville shouted to his friend.

'The line splits here!' Harry yelled back, 'One track will take us to Edinburgh and the other to Glasgow!'

'Which one do we follow?' Draco shouted.

'I'm not sure!' Harry said, 'Hang on!' He flew to the ground, landing out of eyesight and rode the bike on the ground to the front of the station. He jumped off and ran inside. They couldn't see what was happening through the roof of the station, but Harry quickly reappeared, hopped on the bike, drove it away from the station and took off again, in seconds he was by their side in the air.

'What did you do?' Hannah asked loudly over the wind.

'He asked the station guard!' Daphne called back, clearly amused by this.

Harry rolled his eyes, 'It's that line!' he informed them, pulling his visor back down and taking off. The others followed him, amused at their small pit stop.

They followed the line that Harry had said was the right one and sure enough they passed the right stops to know they were on their way to Edinburgh. They passed the small towns of Ladybank, Markinch and Kirkcaldy, and then they were following the coast and passing small coastal towns and villages such as Kinghorn, Burntisland, Aberdour and Dalgety Bay.

'That's Edinburgh!' Harry said to the others after they had passed Inverkeithing and the tracks turned into the iconic Forth rail bridge. They avoided the bridge, flying high to not be seen and they flew between the rail bridge and the road bridge. They followed the track again and decided to touch down near Haymarket station. They landed the bikes and got onto the road, driving the last part as not to arouse suspicion. Harry really needed to look into an invisibility booster.

They shortly arrived in Edinburgh and parked their bikes as near to the Royal mile as they could. Once they were safely locked they found the nearest bathroom and changed into their 'party' clothes. Hermione had opted for a gold dress that was sequinned at the sides and had material in the middle. It stopped just above her knee and had a fairly respectable neckline. Hannah looked lovely in a simple white dress, it was the same length as Hermione's and had elaborate straps. They were black and sequinned and came down to form a triangle at the bust of the dress. Daphne was outrageous in her dress sense, as always, but Harry couldn't really say that he minded. She was wearing a simple black dress that showed off a lot of skin. The material from the top of the dress and the bottom was pulled together so that the dress tied in the middle, her sides and pretty much all of her back was on show but the neckline for once was modest. The boys were just wearing black jeans and shirts, Harry and Neville were in red and Draco in green.

'Where now?' Hermione asked as they stood in a huddle on Princes Street.

'The underground Wizard club obviously,' Harry said, surprising the others, Draco knew about it but he didn't know that Harry did. The others had no idea that there was such a thing. They followed Harry as he made his way along an alley and knocked 3 times on the door. Something scanned him and then he was asked, 'I fly, I dive, I catch things when the time is not right; who am I?'

'Viktor Krum.' Harry replied and the door opened, he walked in and the others followed him.

'Harry! You're back!' A small Asian wizard said; looking at the group he'd brought with him.

Harry grinned, 'Hey Kimball, this is my girlfriend Daphne, and my friends Draco, Hermione, Neville and Hannah.'

The man smiled, 'Friends of Harry Potter are friends of mine. Free entry!' He opened a door and motioned for them to go down the stairs beyond it. Harry led the way and the others followed. They arrived in what appeared at first glance to be a standard club, but when you looked closer you could see the tell tale signs of Wizards. There were two men at a table using their wands to lift up girl's skirts as they danced. There was a man at the bar talking to his pet meerkat, and it was talking back.

'This is awesome babe,' Daphne said as she looked around. Neville grinned, 'I've got a feeling it's gonna be a good night.'

'Tonight's gonna be a good, good night,' Harry agreed with a smirk.

'Let the partying begin!'

* * *

><p>It was lunch time on Sunday when the group of 6 did the walk of shame into the castle. They were starving after their hour and a half flight home, although they weren't hung-over at least. That was thanks to Draco who'd been the most sober as he could hold his liquor more than any of the others. He'd apparated to London and got some cheesy 'hangover be gone' potion from the apothecary in Diagon Alley. It had worked a treat and although they had all had some toast before heading off, they were still so hungry when they reached the castle. It had been worth it though; they'd had a great night, from what they could remember.<p>

They'd left the club in the early hours of the morning and crashed at Draco's Edinburgh penthouse which no one had known anything about it until that night. In the usual Malfoy style it was grand and luxurious with a large open plan kitchen, living area and dining area with a wall entirely made of glass that looked out onto the city. He and Hermione had made their way into the bedroom and the others had crashed on the sofas or on the floor.

They were all so tired as they landed, tethered the bikes up by the pumpkin patch and locked them. They trudged up to the castle and walked into the great hall just in time for lunch. They were hoping to blend in with the crowd so they wouldn't get in _too _much trouble. They'd had the sense to change out of last night's party clothes for travelling, so it didn't look too bad.

When the group walked through the large oak doors from the entrance hall into the great hall they were relieved. McGonagall was absent from the head table, they'd avoided being caught. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, but then disaster struck. Behind them someone cleared their throat.

'Mr. Potter, I see you had a good night.'

Harry turned around slowly, wincing when he saw an extremely strict looking McGonagall standing there, 'Oh, Professor we-' he was about to think up an elaborate lie when Draco cut in, 'Yeah, we did Professor!'

McGonagall turned her steely gaze to Draco who swallowed and dropped his grin, 'I trust you understand that this is not personal, and has everything to do with the fact that as Headmistress of this school I must enforce the rules. All 6 of you, heroes or not, will spend every night this week in detention, with Mister Filch, cleaning the entire castle, Muggle style.'

She walked up to the head table looking quite happy with herself as the others groaned and trudged over to the 8th year table to whistles and applause.

'It was worth the detention,' Draco admitted as he tucked into bacon and eggs like a starving man.

Harry grinned and Neville smirked in agreement, 'Thanks for the bike mate!'

_**TBC**_


	26. Something Doesn't Add Up

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 26 – Something Doesn't Add Up**

The next week was hell on earth for the 6 troublemakers. When the week ended on the 24th of November they had cleaned the entire castle between them Muggle style for 4 hours every night. They had come to the decision that they were either never going to sneak out again or if they did they were going to be much more careful about it.

Monday was a day of relief for most, because the detention was finally over and they could have a social life again, but it wasn't that way for everyone. Things between Dean and Tracey seemed strained; they hardly spoke to each other during breakfast and as the day went on they didn't seem as close as they usually were. When Daphne and Harry asked Tracey about it she just shrugged and said he didn't seem himself today. However, Tracey didn't find out what was going on until much later on Monday. The common room emptied slowly that night, but eventually the only two people left in the room were Dean and Tracey, it was 11pm, and most people had retired to bed.

'Dean, do you want to talk about it?' Tracey asked gently, as she looked up from her book to study her boyfriend, she didn't want to push him.

Dean sighed, not looking up, 'What do you know about my parentage Tracey?'

The question threw Tracey and she frowned, 'Uh, not much, just that you were raised by your Mother and Step-Father, and that your Father left when you were young.'

Dean nodded, not speaking for a few minutes; Tracey wondered if that was all he was going to say to her. He took a deep breath, 'It was 19 years ago today that he left.'

Tracey frowned, '19 years...but that would mean...'

'I never met him,' Dean finished, giving her a small nod, but still not making eye contact, 'He left when my Mum was 7 months pregnant with me.'

Tracey frowned, not really knowing what to say, it was a difficult situation, 'Do you know why?'

Dean shook his head, looking up at her and making eye contact for the first time, 'I don't know much about him,' he admitted, 'all my Mum told me was that they were both 18, they met in April of 1979 and I was conceived in May, I was an accident but they agreed they wanted a baby. It was a whirlwind romance, but she really thought it was love. Then he started to disappear at night and make up excuses and he stopped sleeping in the same bed as my Mum and slept downstairs. She thought he was cheating on her because he was acting so strange. Then one night he said he needed to leave to keep her and me safe and she never saw him again.'

Tracey was frowning throughout the story, it was sad, but it also didn't quite add up. She'd grown up with Death Eaters, the sneaking out in the middle of the night, being afraid to be intimate because of fear of your other half seeing the dark mark; she'd seen that in her Father and both of her brothers. But Dean thought he was Muggle-born...Tracey wasn't so sure.

'Did your Mother ever tell you his name?'

Dean nodded, 'She said he was Reginald Blacklaw, but everyone called him Reg.'

This made Tracey even more uneasy, but she didn't let on. She smiled at Dean, 'Well your Step-Father was always there for you, so at least you had some kind of Father figure. Mine was a Death Eater who was never around and my Mother didn't like children, I was raised by nannies.'

Dean nodded, smiling at his girlfriend, 'Thanks Tracey, you always make me appreciate the little things in life,' he leaned over, kissed her lightly on the lips and said goodnight. Tracey didn't sleep much that night, there were too many confusing thoughts going through her head.

* * *

><p>The next day Tracey decided she needed to corner Daphne. The girl was supposed to be her best friend but they'd barely spoken to each other without Harry around lately. While Tracey was happy Daphne had finally fallen in love she missed her best friend. In Herbology first period they were put in pairs and ended up on opposite sides of the classroom but they both had a free period second so after class Tracey hurried to catch up with Daphne who was walking with, surprise surprise, Harry.<p>

'Daph, can we talk?' Tracey asked, causing Daphne to turn around in surprise.

'Sure, walk with us,' Daphne smiled, and Tracey started to walk in line with them, 'I meant in private Daph,' Tracey corrected, 'no offence Harry.'

'None taken,' Harry said with a smile and Daphne smiled at her friend, 'Of course we can, I'll see you during break,' she said to Harry, kissing him goodbye as he made his way to the library. She turned to Tracey and said, 'shall we go up to the common room?' Tracey nodded and the girls made their way throughout the school talking about mundane things like classes and homework.

When they finally reached the common room they sat down in a couple of comfy armchairs and Daphne said to Tracey, 'So, whats up?'

'Us,' Tracey sighed, 'we used to be as close as sisters Daph, now look at us, I can't remember the last time we hung out just the two of us. I'm happy for you and Harry but you spend all your time with him. You spend so much time with Harry, Draco, Hermione, Sadie and Theo, I just feel left out because Deans not as big a part of the group as the others.'

Daphne really seemed shocked at this, Tracey knew she hadn't been shutting her out on purpose but she'd gotten so caught up in her new romance that she hadn't noticed what she was doing, 'Tracey, Merlin...I'm so sorry, I never wanted to push you away, I swear I'll do whatever I can to make you and Dean a bigger part of the group, I'm so so sorry.'

She walked over to the armchair and squeezed in next to Tracey to give her a proper hug, Tracey smiled, she knew she could always count on Daphne to be there, even if she needed to give her a bit of a kick before she realised it.

'So how are things with you and Dean?' Daphne asked as she snuggled into her friend.

Tracey could have lied, but she was always honest with Daphne so she told her the truth, 'Well, yesterday it was 19 years to the day his Father left, and something just doesn't add up.'

Daphne was curious now; she sat up properly to look at Tracey, 'Okay?'

Tracey continued, 'His parents met in April 79 when they were both 18, he was born at the start of February 80, and his Father left in November 79, when his Mother was 7 months pregnant.'

'Was his Father magical?' Daphne asked, and Tracey could see the cogs in her head whirring.

'He doesn't know, if he was he never told Deans Mother. But this is where it gets weird, he started to sneak out at night, get jumpy, he stopped sleeping in the same bed as Deans Mother.' Tracey said, watching Daphne's face as she came to the same conclusion that she had.

'That sounds very much like a Death Eater who doesn't want his spouse to know what he's up too...' Daphne said, frowning. Tracey nodded, 'That's exactly what I thought, and it gets weirder, his Father went by the name of Reginald Blacklaw.'

Daphne gasped, her mind processing this, 'Is it just me or does that sound very similar to Regulus Black?'

'It's not just you,' Tracey said, glad she and Daphne could still bounce ideas off each other so easily, and now someone else agreed with her theory she didn't think it was so crazy.

'Wow, I mean, whoa, should we tell Dean?' Daphne asked, trying to figure out what to do. Tracey quickly shook her head, 'No, not yet, we need proof first.'

'How are we going to get that?' Daphne asked, her frown deepening.

'Your boyfriend,' Tracey said in a stroke of genius, 'I mean, his Godfather was Regulus's brother right, shouldn't we see what he knows?'

Daphne nodded, standing up, 'He's in the library, I'll go do some recon,' Tracey laughed and stood up too, 'While you're doing that I'll see if I can find a way to find proof that Regulus is Dean's Father.'

The two girls joked about being on a mission as they walked to the library together to get some answers. Once they reached the door they split up, Tracey going to the research section at the back and Daphne making her way over to where Harry was sitting alone at a small table in a quiet corner of the library.

'Hey,' Daphne greeted, sitting down across from him. Harry looked up and smiled, 'Hey, what was that about?'

Daphne shrugged, 'Tracey and I grew up like sisters, but lately I've been ignoring her a little, ever since I got together with you and became friends with Hermione. I promised to integrate her and Dean into the group more, but does it make me a bad person that I didn't even realise I was pushing my closest friend away?'

Harry shook his head, 'Of course it doesn't Daph, you're growing up and in that process you'll make mistakes. Your friendship circle has gotten bigger but that doesn't mean you and Tracey's friendship is any less important, just because you don't spend every minute of your day with someone doesn't mean you love them any less. Take Hermione and me, now she's with Draco we don't spend half as much time together as we used too but when we do spend time together its ten times as special as it would have been otherwise.'

Daphne smiled, 'Thanks Harry, you always know what to say.'

Harry chuckled, 'Years of experience from Mione,' he said with a grin that Daphne returned.

'I do need to talk to you about something though,' Daphne said; her voice much more serious now.

'Go ahead,' Harry said as he put his quill down and shut the book he was reading.

Daphne sighed and began to tell the story, 'Tracey thinks Deans Father might be Regulus Black. All Dean knows is that his parents met when they were both 18 in April 79 and that his Father left in November 79 when his Mother was 7 months pregnant. Apparently during the last few months he snuck out at night and was jumpy, he also didn't sleep in the same bed as Deans Mother. It all screams Death Eater trying to hide his identity to me, and Dean's Father went by the name Reginald Blacklaw.'

Once Daphne had finished there was silence for a moment, apart from the scratching of quills and the flicking of book pages.

'That does sound very like Regulus,' Harry agreed, 'and he was a Death Eater but he actually turned against Voldemort and started the mission I finished, the mission to destroy all of Voldemorts horcruxes. He stole the horcrux in November 79, but couldn't destroy it and was killed in the process by Inferi.'

'So it's not a coincidence?' Daphne asked; her eyes wide.

'I doubt it,' Harry said, as he tried to process all this information, 'there are too many similarities between Reginald Blacklaw and Regulus Black.'

'So,' Daphne said slowly, waving Tracey over as she caught the girl inching slowly towards them, 'what do we do?'

'Tell Dean,' Harry said, straight away, and Daphne was about to say it wasn't that easy when Tracey slid into a seat next to her and said, 'I think I've found a way to get proof before we talk to Dean.'

Daphne and Harry shared a glance and Harry asked what her proof was. Tracey smiled a little, looking rather proud of herself, 'whenever a Witch or Wizard is born it's registered in a magical book here at Hogwarts and a letter is automatically sent when the book detects their 11th birthday approaching. Like most things magical it sees through all disguises so it will show Deans date of birth, his blood-status, and list the name of his magical parent or parents.'

'That's genius,' Harry said in amazement, and Daphne nodded eagerly, but then they both realised something at the same time, 'but how do we get access to this book?'

Daphne and Tracey shared a look that Harry didn't quite like the look of.

'It's in the restricted section,'

'I have an invisibility cloak, that will be-'

'In a locked room,'

'Protected by 10 different enchantments,'

'And sealed with 17 different locking charms.'

Harry gaped at them for a moment, 'Seriously?'

Tracey grinned, 'Nah, it's in that little room off of the great hall.'

Harry rolled his eyes, chuckling, 'You nearly got me.'

The two girls laughed, but Daphne then said, 'We will need McGonagall's permission to see it though.'

'And you two aren't her favourite people right now, so I guess I should be the one to sweetly ask her,' Tracey pointed out; McGonagall was still pissed off at Harry and the others for sneaking out before.

'Good luck!' Daphne and Harry called as Tracey walked out of the library with determined strides.

* * *

><p>When Tracey approached the Headmistress at her desk in the circular room at the top of the Headmasters tower she used every skill her Mother had taught her in how to succeed in business. She greeted McGonagall with a polite smile and a handshake and took her seat opposite the woman.<p>

'What can I do for you Miss Davis?' McGonagall asked politely.

Tracey put on another sweet smile, 'I'm not sure whether or not you are aware, but Dean and I have been dating since our return to school. I recently discovered something about his Father, I believe he was a Wizard by the name of Regulus Black, and I'd love to be able to prove this before telling Dean.'

McGonagall frowned and asked Tracey to elaborate, so she told the Headmistress exactly what she had told Harry and Daphne. McGonagall nodded and listening intently to the tale, she seemed intrigued by it and when Tracey was finished she remarked, 'Yes, it does seem very likely that the younger Black sibling was Mr Thomas's Father.'

'I have a theory, to prove it,' Tracey said, trying not to sound too eager, 'but I need your help.'

McGonagall gave the Slytherin a small smile, 'you may view the book, come with me.' Surprised by how easy it had been Tracey accompanied McGonagall through the school, they walked in comfortable silence through the empty corridors, most people were in class, Dean included. When they reached the great hall McGonagall placed her hand on the doors to unlock them as the hall was always kept locked during classes. As she walked through the hall with the Headmistress she was stunned, she'd never seen it so quiet and empty, it made it seem so much bigger and the walk from one end to the other seemed to take forever.

When they reached the door at the other end of the hall McGonagall took out a set of keys and searched through them for a moment before unlocking the door and leading Tracey into the room. She'd never seen it before, but it seemed to be used for storage now, it looked like it had once been a grand lounge at some point. There were portraits on the walls and boxes lying around the place that obviously hadn't been cleared since the battle.

McGonagall saw Tracey looking at the boxes and she frowned for a moment as her eyes fell on them, 'These boxes contain the possessions of students who died in the battle of Hogwarts, if they had family they took them, but some of these children were the last of their families.'

A lump caught in Tracey's throat, she swallowed it and McGonagall got a little glassy eyed, but she turned away to hide it. She walked over to a book on a golden stand, it was shining a little and protected by a magical barrier that looked like glass but sparkled in a way that glass didn't. McGonagall performed a few spells and then said in a loud clear voice, 'Dean Thomas.'

Tracey edged towards the book and frowned as the pages seemed to sparkle and light up, then a strange voice said, 'No student by the name of Dean Thomas, apologies Headmistress.'

McGonagall tried again, 'Dean Black.'

Immediately the book came to life and the pages magically flew open then settled. McGonagall searched the entries and at the same time she and Tracey spotted Deans entry. It read, Dean Black: half-blood, Father: Regulus Arcturus Black.' Below that was his address.

'So, I was right,' Tracey breathed, seeing the proof shocked her, and for the first time she worried about telling Dean.

'Would you like a copy of the entry?' McGonagall asked kindly and Tracey replied, 'yes, please.'

She took out her wand again and mumbled a spell; it was extraordinary what happened next. The words on the page seemed to lift off and were sucked into McGonagall's wand. Then a small piece of parchment appeared at the tip of her wand and got larger until it was a scroll. She opened it and showed Tracey the copy, the Slytherin was amazed but grateful as she hurried off to find Daphne and Harry; they had their proof, now they just needed to figure out how to tell Dean.

* * *

><p>When the others had left the common room Harry, Daphne and Tracey tentatively approached Dean as he sat reading a book full of chess tips. He looked up at their anxious faces as they stood around him and joked, 'Who died?'<p>

They shared uneasy looks and sat down, Tracey next to Dean on the sofa and Harry and Daphne in nearby armchairs.

'We know something about your Father.'

Dean frowned, putting his book down immediately, 'What do you mean?'

'He was a Wizard,' Tracey said, choosing her words carefully.

'Really?' Dean asked, eyes wide and hopeful, but then he realised what his girlfriend had said, 'Wait, what do you mean _was_?'

'He died in 1979,' Harry said, trying to break the news gently, 'A few days after he left your Mum.'

Dean seemed to be struggling to process this, but there was so much more to come, 'So he's been dead all these years, that's why he's never come looking for me.'

Daphne nodded, her eyes a little watery, 'Dean, your Father died to save you, from Voldemort.'

There were so many questions in Dean's eyes and the others could see he needed an explanation. Harry took point as he knew the most about the story and the man, 'He was a Death Eater, and he came from a family that were very particular about what should be done to Muggles and Muggle-borns. He was the favourite son out of two, he'd been a Slytherin like they'd wanted and his brother had gone and become a Gryffindor so his parents adored him. He fell in love with your Mum and from what I gather kept it a secret. His Father was already dead by this time and his Mother was going insane. He decided all of a sudden to go against his Master and try to destroy him, I had no idea what could have pushed him to do that, but I think it was the fact you're Mum was pregnant.'

'My Father was a Slytherin and a Death Eater?' Dean asked, completely disgusted.

Tracey sighed, 'Dean, he was a good man, he changed, Daphne and I grew up with bad men who never changed, and they are the kind of Death Eaters you should be ashamed of. You should be proud of your Father.'

Before a fight could break out Harry spoke up again, Dean didn't look like he'd shout anyway, he seemed to take in Tracey's point and nodded, looking back to Harry, 'I'm sure you've read all about the horcruxes?'

Dean nodded and Harry continued, 'Well I destroyed most of them, but your Dad stole one but couldn't destroy it. Voldemort needed a house elf and asked your Dad for his, he took the house elf to test the defences on his horcrux. Your Dad then returned to the place with the elf and to get to the horcrux he needed to drink a potion that made him insane, he ordered the elf to go back to his home, with or without him, and he was dragged into a lake by Inferi and killed.'

There were tears in Dean's eyes as Harry reached the climax of the tale. There was silence around the group for a little while as Dean wiped his eyes and tried to steady his breathing, 'Who was he?'

'He was called Regulus Black,' Daphne informed Dean, Harry added, 'He was the brother of my Godfather Sirius.'

Dean shook his head in disbelief, it was so much to take in, all in one night, he couldn't believe it, 'So he was a good Death Eater, like Snape?'

The other 3 nodded, towards the end of his life Regulus had been a good person. All of a sudden Harry had an idea and clicked his fingers. In an instant Kreacher appeared and bowed to Harry, 'Master Harry,' he greeted.

Harry smiled at the house-elf, 'Kreacher, I want you to meet someone,' he said, 'this is Dean, his Father was Regulus.'

Kreacher raised his head to look at Dean with watery eyes. Kreacher then bowed extremely low to Dean, 'Kreacher is at your service Master Dean.'

Harry chuckled, 'Technically he's our shared house-elf; I guess the house is kind of yours too, but Sirius left it to me in his will-'

Dean shook his head and smiled, 'I don't want it. As great as it is to finally have closure, my Dad will always be the man who raised me, my Step-Dad Daniel.'

'I understand that,' Harry said smiling at Dean who seemed to be brightening up now. Kreacher bowed once more to Dean then Harry and vanished back to the kitchens.

'I'm going to head to bed, thanks for telling me this,' Dean said, smiling at them all and heading up the staircase towards his dorm room. Back in the common room Harry, Daphne and Tracey could breathe a sigh of relief. They felt like they'd done the right thing by giving Dean the closure he needed.

_TBC_

_**A/N: This is slightly AU. I know Deans Dad left when he was young, but in this fic he left before he was born to make the canon dates work, I could have changed the dates, but that would have been awkward and difficult.**_


	27. Please Sir, Can We Have Our Portrait?

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 27 – Please Sir, Can We Have Our Portrait?**

November faded into December and it got colder at Hogwarts. The snow began to fall over the mountains and the black lake froze over as the temperatures dramatically dropped. Inside the castle everyone wore cloaks, even in classrooms, it was the coldest winter they'd ever experienced. The warmest place was the Potions classroom with all the hot fires under the cauldrons and Harry found himself looking forward to those classes.

'We've still had no progress with Prince Patriots,' Daphne was saying, as the group walked to the great hall through the freezing grounds, they'd just had Herbology.

'I know,' Hermione sighed, 'but I honestly can't think of a way to make sure the letter gets to Kingsley and not his evil secretary.'

'I can,' Harry said, stopping in his tracks, his eyes looking up the path to the great oak front doors of the castle. The others frowned and followed his line of sight. Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minster of Magic, was standing by the doors talking to McGonagall who was genuinely smiling, maybe Hermione had been right about those two.

Sadie giggled and said it was cute, Theo made a face at her and Draco rolled his eyes, 'Come on Potter, lets work our magic.'

The girls giggled and Harry just grinned at Daphne, Draco shot Hermione a wink and then the two boys took off at a jog to catch the Minister. They reached the doors just as they started to walk away.

'Kingsley!' Harry shouted, running to catch up with the man. He had turned around and smiled, 'Harry, how have you been?'

Harry tried to smile back as he caught his breath, 'Good thanks, I really need to talk to you though.'

Kinglsey nodded, 'Of course, I've just got to have lunch with Minerva to discuss plans for the school. I'll talk to you after.'

Harry believed him, Kingsley had never brushed him off before or lied to him so he nodded and let the Minister and the Headmistress walk away. Draco glared at him, 'You should have pushed!'

'I'd rather have time to explain the situation properly,' Harry said, glaring back.

The others had just arrived through the doors into the warm entrance hall.

'Did you ask him?' Tracey asked as Harry and Draco joined them on their way into the great hall.

'Yeah,' Harry said, 'but he had a meeting with McGonagall, he said he'd talk to me later.'

'No offence Harry,' Dean said, 'but how do you know he really will?'

'It's Kinglsey,' Hermione said simply and Neville nodded, 'he never lies, if he said he'd talk to Harry, he has every intention to do so.'

'We'll take your word for it,' Sadie said diplomatically.

'You don't tend to lie very often Harry,' Tracey observed and Harry merely shrugged, he tried not to.

'Nah, he just goes around making out with Veela's,' Theo joked with a smirk. Daphne and Harry both glared at him and said 'Shut up Theo!'

Theo chuckled and Sadie slapped him on the arm with a disapproving look. Everyone sat down to lunch and left the Kingsley issue at rest momentarily as they realised they all had DADA next and they couldn't stand another period of watching Parvati and Poliakoff flirt shamelessly.

'Did anyone find anything to help Parvati?' Daphne asked under her breath.

'I found one small loop-hole,' Sadie said, sounding sneaky.

'Go on...' Hermione said, intrigued so Sadie grinned, 'Well in the official rulebook that was written when Hogwarts was founded, there is only one rule regarding students and teachers. It reads 'Under no circumstance should a student between 1st and 7th year and a teacher be involved in any romantic, sexual or other relationship.'

'And Parvati is an 8th year, so it doesn't apply,' Tracey realised, 'Sadie you're a genius!'

Sadie grinned, 'Well, I try,' She joked, causing the others to chuckle. They agreed that once they'd talked to Kingsley they'd take their new rule to McGonagall and see what she had to say about it.

* * *

><p>Harry had to put up with another period of the flirtation between his classmate and their Professor in DADA, but he just got on with the task at hand and produced a patronus a few times. Poliakoff had been very impressed when nearly the whole class produced a perfect patronus. Harry winked round the DA members and sniggered as several non DA members struggled. Isabelle and Tessie couldn't even get a small slither of silver to come out of their wands. The Slytherins did okay though, but they were pretty smart. Daphne had got an O in O.W.L DADA and her patronus was a fox, which was pretty accurate. Neville had always struggled with the charm but he pulled it off effortlessly and Harry smiled slightly when he saw that Neville's patronus was a lion. It took a few more attempts for Sadie, who had only gotten an E in DADA, but eventually she produced a pretty good rabbit, she was timid like a rabbit after all. Tracey had only gotten an E in DADA too, but she managed to produce a patronus, just not for very long, her patronus was a wolf. Hannah had always been good and had got an O in DADA so like Neville she effortlessly produced her seal patronus. Blaise never managed to produce a full patronus at all, but Theo did, even though he'd only gotten an E. His patronus surprised the others the most; it was a cute little beagle. The others sniggered and Theo went red, it was nice to embarrass him for a change since he usually embarrassed everyone else. Draco had gotten an O in DADA and had obviously conjured a patronus before because it seemed very easy for him to conjure his dragon patronus.<p>

After DADA Harry had double Divination and he really wanted to catch Kingsley before it, luckily luck was in his favour because the Minister of Magic was waiting outside the classroom for him.

'Ah, there you are Harry, what can I do for the chosen one?' Kinglsey asked jokingly as Harry chuckled, 'Oh, hey Kinglsey, well I've been trying to reach you for a while,' he said as he walked away with the Minister. The rest of his classmates gaped at the scene but then Daphne rolled her eyes and said, 'Come on, he defeated Voldemort, of course he's on a first name basis with the Minister of Magic!'

There was some chuckling as the crowd dispersed and made their way to their separate classes. Daphne shot a look back at her boyfriend as she left for Divination with Tracey and Sadie.

* * *

><p>'I've never received any of these letters,' Kingsley told Harry, frowning deeply as he tried to comprehend this.<p>

Harry nodded, 'I know. Your secretary is Charity Burbage's sister, she was killed by Voldemort, but Severus was her friend and he had to let her be killed, saving her would have blown his cover and your secretary blames him for her death.'

'Why would that make her stop me from receiving your letters?' Kingsley asked, still frowning.

'We were writing under the name 'Prince Patriots'. We want a portrait of Severus to be placed in the Headmasters Office with the other Headmasters portraits,' Harry said, 'and I wrote to you and got this reply back.'

Harry handed Kingsley the letter and he read it, keeping that frown on his face, 'I did not write this Harry.'

'I suspected as much,' Harry admitted, 'so, do you think you can do it?'

Kingsley sighed, 'I'm afraid it is a difficult issue,' he admitted as they reached the empty entrance hall and sat down on a bench, 'I was worried you'd say that,' Harry said and Kingsley chuckled.

'You see Harry, like my secretary said in the letter, public opinion is against it, although after that interview you gave Skeeter that's changing, but the big issue is he doesn't qualify to receive a portrait.'

'And there's no way you can get around the loophole?' Harry asked, hopefully, maybe a little too hopeful.

'It is possible, but it would take time,' Kingsley said, 'in the meantime, you can have a portrait somewhere else, if you'd like?'

Harry grinned as a thought came to his mind, 'Like guarding the 8th year common room?'

Kingsley chuckled, 'Yes, I'm sure it's what Severus would have wanted.'

The two friends laughed as Kingsley promised he'd get to work on it and the portrait would be ready in a couple of weeks. Harry thought of the looks Severus would give them when he saw the new inter-house couples, it made him chuckle to himself.

Kingsley stood up to leave and Harry said, 'I should get going, I'm missing Divination.'

'How ever will you cope?' Kingsley asked sarcastically making Harry laugh, he thanked Kingsley and turned to leave but Kingsley stopped him.

'Harry, have you considered my offer, of becoming an Auror?'

Harry smiled, 'I'd like to finish 8th year, but then I'll go into Auror training, it's definitely what I want to do.'

'Fantastic,' Kingsley said, he nodded at Harry then turned and made his way out of the school. Feeling like he'd accomplished something at last for Prince Patriots Harry made his way to Divination in a fantastic mood.

By the time Harry had jogged all the way through the castle and up the north staircase to the Divination room he realised how unfit he was as he gasped to catch his breath. The silver ladder fell from the hatch and from above Trelawney sang, 'Come in dear.'

Harry made his way into the stuffy room and sat down next to Daphne who smiled at him. Trelawney swept past him saying, 'Talking to an old acquaintance? Yes, I see.'

Her predictions were getting pretty accurate. Once she was at the other end of the room Harry cast a cooling charm on the table and the others sighed in relief and asked what happened.

'Well, he said he might be able to get a portrait in the Headmasters office but it will take time, in the meantime however, we are getting a portrait of Severus to guard the 8th year common room,' Harry informed the 3 girls. Their reaction was exactly how Harry had imagined it would be, they had to try very hard to contain their laughter as they imagined how Severus was going to react to being hung at the front of the 8th year common room.

* * *

><p>After double Divination Harry made his way to the great hall for dinner with Daphne's hand in his and Sadie and Tracey walking a little way behind them. He was excited to tell the others about the latest accomplishment for Prince Patriots. After all he'd only been able to tell the 3 girls in Divination and pretty much all of their year was a member. They chatted animatedly about it until they reached the great hall where most of the 8th year were seated. That was the good thing about coming from Divination on this occasion; it was so far away it meant they were last to the hall and didn't have to wait around for everyone.<p>

Harry grinned when Daphne asked if he was going to sit down, 'Of course not,' he said as he jumped up onto the 8th year table and cast a sonorous charm on himself, 'Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, students of 8th year. Today I got excellent news from our charming Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt,' he glanced towards the head table and winked at McGonagall who blushed a deep red and glared at him. Harry merely smirked and turned back to the hall, 'Prince Patriots have been granted a portrait of Severus Snape, it is not yet possible for it to be placed amongst the Headmasters portraits so instead Severus Snape will be the new guardian of the 8th year common room!'

The hall exploded with cheers and even McGonagall was holding back laughter at the thought of this, everyone was thinking the same thing, how Severus was going to react to this, and it was definitely going to be an amusing sight. McGonagall shook her head in amusement and called from the head table, 'Well done Potter!'

Harry grinned at her and sat down at the table in-between Daphne and Draco, who grinned and hit him on the back, 'Good on you Potter.'

'What is it with you calling me Potter all the time lately?' Harry asked as he helped himself to some Shepherd's pie. Before Draco could answer Hermione said from next to her boyfriend, 'it turns him on, that's what he calls you in his fantasies, eh Draco?'

Draco glared playfully at Hermione and said, 'I could tell Harry many things about you that would make his hair curl.'

Harry scoffed, 'Oh, I doubt it, I know all about Hermione and her experimental ways,' he winked at his friend who blushed and Draco was gaping at him in shock.

'I thought you said you _didn't _have sex with her when I asked you?' Draco said; a little bit too loudly.

He got two different responses back at the same time.

'You asked him about my sex life?!'

'I didn't have _sex _with her,' Harry said, a little too casually, as he continued to eat his dinner as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Draco narrowed his eyes at Harry who rolled them and said, 'Oh come on Draco, I'm winding you up, I know these things because she tells me, we're best friends, remember?'

Draco just mumbled under his breath and ate his dinner silently. Harry and Hermione shared an amused smile at how easy it was to wind up their friend.

'So, how do you think Severus will react?' Harry asked, trying to cheer up the Slytherin, he went in the huff every time he didn't get his way.

This brightened Draco up, he sniggered, 'He'll be disgusted, he probably thought he'd gotten rid of us.'

'I can just imagine his reaction when he finds out I'm dating you,' Hermione said, chuckling at the thought.

Harry shrugged, 'Maybe not, after all, he loved my Muggle-born, Gryffindor Mother all of his life, maybe he'll just be happy for you both.'

Hermione and Draco shared a look, seemed to consider this and then said, 'Nah,' causing the rest of the table to break into laughter.

They all tucked into dinner quite happily, afterwards they would be going to McGonagall about Parvati and Poliakoff's relationship, but with the head boy and girl leading them they knew their chances were good.

* * *

><p>Hermione was only a little nervous when she knocked on the oak door at the top of the staircase and waited for McGonagall to tell them to enter. Theo on the other hand was not nervous at all; frankly he just looked bored, he probably was, he was only here because Sadie had forced him to come.<p>

'Enter.'

Hermione took a deep breath and walked into the office, she smiled at the Headmistress who told her and Theo to take a seat, once they had done so Hermione got right to the point.

'Professor, we've discovered a loop-hole in the school rules that would, in theory, enable a student of 8th year to be involved in a relationship with a teacher.'

McGonagall narrowed her eyes, 'The rulebook does only refer to students between 1st and 7th year. When it was written a situation like the one we are in now was not thought of. After all, the school was only built to accommodate 7 years, not 8.'

'So, you're saying, that it would be okay, in theory?' Theo asked, making sure to keep the word 'theory' in the discussion.

McGonagall seemed to be trying to hold in a smile as she said, 'In theory Miss Patil and her handsome Norse friend, can be a couple, as like I said the rules are not valid for 8th years and she is over 18 years old now.'

'And there would be no questions asked? In theory?' Hermione asked, not surprised that McGonagall had already known, or suspected about Parvati and Poliakoff, after all they didn't hide it very well.

McGonagall gave the head boy and girl a small smile, 'No, there would be no questions asked, in theory.'

Hermione grinned and thanked McGonagall then she and Theo left the office. Once they were in the corridor Theo said, 'Well, that was easy.'

'I suspected it might be,' Hermione said honestly, 'McGonagall is just as damaged as us after the war, she wants everyone to be happy, why do you think she's been so lax on the rules this year?'

'She hasn't been lax on the rules for everyone,' Theo pointed out, 'just the 8th years; I think she knows how much we all went through.'

Hermione nodded, 'That was very wise Theo.'

'Why do you sound so surprised?'

Hermione chuckled and the two friends made their way to the common room to inform the others of the news. Luckily Parvati was out, probably meeting up with Poliakoff in an empty classroom somewhere, so they could talk freely.

'She said okay,' Hermione told the others, grinning.

There was a lot of squealing and a few relieved sighs, no more watching them try to be subtle and fail terribly at it. Now, all they had to do was tell Parvati the news.

* * *

><p>When Parvati Patil walked into the common room after 1am in the morning she expected it to be empty, or at least very quiet, but no, in fact it was practically full.<p>

The moment she walked in they all fell silent and looked at her, as if they had been expecting her. She saw a peculiar looking piece of parchment in Harry's hands and he quickly hid it behind his back. Parvati frowned as Daphne guided her silently to an armchair and told her to sit down, but she did as the Slytherin said.

'What's going on?' Parvati asked, she was a bit freaked out by all the people looking at her, and everyone was so quiet.

'We have good news for you,' Tracey said chirpily, making her feel a little better.

'We spoke to McGonagall about loopholes in the school rulebook today,' Sadie added.

'We've been trying to figure out a way around the rule for weeks now,' Susan Bones piped up.

'And McGonagall said our loophole was right and she wasn't going to close it, 'Hannah said happily to Parvati who still didn't quite get what was going on.

Hermione stepped forward to explain, 'The rule we found a loophole in was that no student between 1st and 7th year can be involved in a relationship with a teacher. You, Parvati, are an 8th year so you and Poliakoff can be together.'

Parvati was silent as she gaped around at her friends, 'Oh my gosh...you guys did this, for me?'

'Of course, Parvati, you're our friend,' Lavender said, smiling at her best friend.

'And McGonagall really said it was okay?' Parvati asked, still struggling to come to terms with what she was hearing.

Hermione nodded, glad they'd made Parvati happy, 'She said the rule doesn't affect you because you're an 8th year and also because you are over 18.'

Parvati grinned with delight, 'Wow, thank you, thank you so much! I have to go tell Alfons! You guys are amazing!' They all chuckled as Parvati hurried happily from the common room.

They had done their good deed for the day.

* * *

><p>The portrait was installed on the 7th of December. It was a Sunday and it took 4 hours which meant that for 4 hours the 8th years had to think of a way to entertain themselves before they were allowed back into the common room. It was a miserable day outside and nobody wanted to go to the library, apart from Hermione and Sadie, so Harry had gotten the gang back together for a good old DA practice. He knew it defeated the purpose now but he enrolled Draco, Theo, Blaise, Daphne, Sadie and Tracey and gave them all a coin to keep as a souvenir, he felt that they deserved it.<p>

They split up into pairs and duelled each other. The results were really quite surprising. Neville completely destroyed Draco, which amused everyone, apart from Draco, who of course went in one of his infamous huffs. Daphne very nearly beat Hermione but the Gryffindor was just a little bit better and Harry completely annihilated Theo much to the Slytherins embarrassment. Theo had cockily said to Harry, 'You're just the boy-who-lived, how hard can it be?' and had tried to brush it off when Harry had sent him flying into the opposite wall.

Hermione had grinned and put out her hand to Draco who rolled his eyes and handed over 5 galleons, they'd betted on their friends and Hermione knew Harry would beat Theo; after all, he _had _killed Voldemort.

Once they had finished duelling they still had 2 hours to go until they could get back into the common room so Harry decided to show them somewhere he'd found a while ago and had kept a secret. He led the group of 8th years down past the Hufflepuff common room, past a secret tapestry of an apple tree which you got through by touching each of the apples and making them fall from the tree, and down a narrow steep passage. At the bottom of it they came out into a large room with a huge bath. The group gaped at the room, and Hermione put her hand in the bath, it was hot.

Harry grinned, 'It was installed by the Romans and the founders just built over it when they founded Hogwarts. It was supposed to be for the founders only and their heirs, but it got forgotten about and lay underneath the castle for years. I found it in 5th year when I used to walk around at night exploring the castle and although it needed a bit of a clean, it still works fine.'

'Wow, this is amazing Harry,' Daphne said, taking off her socks and dipping her feet into the hot water, 'how is it hot?'

'The Romans built two floors, the bottom one supports the top floor and in-between the two floors there is hot water and steam so that the water above is always hot,' Harry said, looking around the room, 'so who wants to go for a swim?'

'We don't have bathing suits,' Hannah said and Draco rolled his eyes, 'Can't you do clothing transfiguration?'

'Uh, no,' Hannah said and several others seemed to have no idea what this was either. Draco made a noise of disgust, 'Honestly, people these days have no idea what to do with themselves.'

He and Harry had already transfigured their clothes into swimming trunks and Daphne was already in the pool with a bikini on. Sadie, Tracey, Theo and Blaise easily did the same and got into the hot water. Everybody who could do clothing transfiguration did so and got into the pool leaving only a few people standing awkwardly. Hermione, of course had learned how to do so, after all if Harry had been able to learn the transfiguration he knew she could. The only people standing in their normal clothes were Dean, Hannah and Justin. Neville grinned and transformed Hannah's jeans and t-shirt into the skimpiest bikini imaginable; she blushed and quickly got in the water. Harry quickly did the charm for Justin and Dean and then he too got in the lovely warm water.

'Good call Potter,' Daphne said, swimming over to him and standing up to hug him. Harry's breath caught when he saw how small her bikini was and he kissed his girlfriend, 'Mm, glad you think so,' he said, a little distracted. Daphne got closer to him and kissed him again, when she pulled away she raised an eyebrow at him and he blushed, 'Come on, you know what hot water does to guys!'

Daphne only laughed and nodded her head in the direction of Draco and Hermione who were making out by the stairs and seemed to be in a similar situation. The couple laughed at their friends, it felt good to be this free.

After they had all dried off in a the accompanying sauna the 8th years stopped off by the kitchens for food which Kreacher and Winky happily prepared for them, and Winky then told them she was expecting a baby and it was going to be called Dobby. Kreacher had mumbled under his breath that he wasn't happy about this but Winky had given him a stern look and said, 'Winky has to have this baby Kreacher, Winky will name it!'

Kreacher said, 'Yes Winky, Kreacher understands,' which Harry assumed was house-elf for 'yes dear'.

Finally 4 hours had passed and they were allowed back in the common room. Harry was excited as he bounded up the stairs of the tower, ahead of everyone else. He reached the landing a little breathless and grinned when he saw Severus in his portrait. The backdrop was a potions lab, and Severus was sitting at a desk with a cauldron on it, bubbling away. He looked up when he saw Harry and glared at him, he stood up and walked to the front of the picture, 'Potter, I hear this was your idea.'

Harry grinned, 'Indeed it was Professor.'

Severus glowered at him, 'May I ask why you wanted a portrait of me to guard your common room?'

Harry smirked at the snarky dead git, 'What can I say Professor, I missed you so much I just had to bring you back in some small way.'

Severus groaned and shook his head, 'And I have to guard this infernal teenage love shack.'

Harry smirked even more as the others arrived behind him on the stairs, 'Oh Professor, there have been many changes since you left, this is Daphne Greengrass, do you remember her?'

Severus almost smiled, 'Ah, Miss Greengrass, of course. An excellent O.W.L student, an O I believe?'

Daphne nodded and smiled, 'Yes Professor.'

'Well, Daphne here, is my girlfriend now Severus, what do you make of that?' Harry asked, putting his arm around Daphne and watching as Severus wrinkled his nose in disgust, 'Gryffindors and Slytherins dating, what next,' he muttered.

Draco then arrived, 'Hello Severus, good to see you again.'

'Draco, I am glad to see you are well,' Severus said, almost happily to his Godson.

Draco smiled, his hand in Hermione's, 'Oh yes, very well, with my dear Hermione actually.'

Severus's eyes widened and Hermione said, 'Also an excellent O.W.L student by the way, who also got an O, but you hated me yet.'

'Miss Granger you were and still are an insufferable know-it-all. What happened to your ginger tag-along?'

Harry sniggered at the description and Draco burst out laughing. Hermione rolled her eyes, 'We broke up, and he got expelled.'

Severus breathed a sigh of relief, 'Oh thank Merlin, no Weasleys in my common room. Merlin has been good to me.'

Harry rolled his eyes, 'Alright you prejudiced old git, whats the password?'

Severus smirked wickedly at Harry, 'The password is Lily Snape.'

Harry laughed, 'Okay, that's a good one.'

Severus didn't seem happy about this, he had clearly picked this password just to annoy Harry, and it hadn't worked, 'You can be as sick and perverted as you want now you're a portrait,' he joked and said, 'Lily Snape.'

Severus mumbled something under his breath and the portrait swung open. The others walked in and Severus gave a running commentary.

'Ah, Miss Cauldwell and Mr Nott, as I suspected.'

'Longbottom, you got a girlfriend? Oh wait, she's a Hufflepuff.'

'Miss Davis, a Gryffindor? You could do so much better.'

'Mr Finnigan and Miss Brown, I do believe that you are perfect for each other.'

'Mr Boot and Miss Chambers, you are both vain enough for each other.'

'Mr Zabini, why you would date a Gryffindor is beyond me, especially one as blonde and clueless as Miss Pritchard.'

'Mr MacMillan and Mr Finch-Fletchley, our resident Hufflepoofs.'

'Mr Smith you have finally found someone who rivals your intelligence, or lack of it, in Miss Jones.'

'Miss Patil, and Miss Patil, both single, why does that not surprise me?'

'Mr Corner, did your ginger Weasel break your heart?'

'Miss Brocklehurst, have you not found your perfect man yet? No? Clearly he doesn't like the library then.'

'Miss Bones, I actually rather liked you, you reminded me of Lily.'

Susan frowned and walked into the common room with a call of, 'Creepy pervert.'

Harry made a face at Severus who smirked, glad to be getting to Harry, 'Oh I did love your Mother so much, the way she smiled, the way she walked, the way she talked-'

'Okay, I'm going to go look at pictures of my Mum and the man she was happily married too now, bye Sevvy!' Harry said, getting the last laugh this time as he walked into the common room and the door slammed behind him. Harry grinned; oh he was so glad to have Severus back. He had a feeling Severus might brighten things up around the common room.

**_TBC_**


	28. A Change Up

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 28 – A Change-Up**

As Harry sat in a small classroom looking into McGonagall's rage filled face he sighed, and wondered how on earth they'd wound up here. In this little classroom, all beaten up, with dark marks around their eyes from being kept in here awake all night, waiting for a verdict on their punishment. They all had minor injuries, cuts, bruises, scratches, but not a single face was free of those minor injuries. No one had said a word since they'd been led to this classroom and a teacher was always present to keep an eye on them.

Harry looked around the faces, some were stoic and poker faced, like his, some had tears running down them, some were pale with nerves and some just looked plain bored, tired and fed up.

Dawn was breaking outside the 4 walls they were imprisoned in and Harry guessed it must be around 5am now, he hoped they'd be allowed out of here soon. Again, he sighed and shook his head, they had been so stupid.

_**12 HOURS EARLIER**_

'I swear, I think she's a real seer!'

Harry was trying to convince the others over dinner, but they were not in the slightest bit convinced. However, Harry was sure that underneath the facade there was something real about Trelawney.

'Harry, real seers are incredibly rare,' Hermione said logically, but of course _she _wouldn't believe him, what with her track record for Divination.

'They are rare, but I see your point,' Sadie said, ever the diplomat, 'she is much better this year than she's ever been before.'

Tracey nodded, and said, through a mouthful of apple pie, 'Her predictions _are _much better, and almost all of them come true.'

'Really?' Draco asked, rather surprised by this, he'd never taken Divination, 'I personally never took Divination, always thought it was a bit of a woolly subject myself.'

Harry and Hermione shared a grin, sometimes Harry could really see that Draco was perfect for his best friend; she'd described Divination exactly the same way many years ago.

'I think it's a load of rubbish,' Theo voiced his very loud opinion, 'how can anyone tell the future? It's made up by lots of things you don't expect to happen. Someone can make a prophecy that someone will die in a few days but then the next day a miracle cure for their sickness could be found.'

'But you can agree that _real seers _can make small predictions?' Harry asked, understanding Theo's point.

Theo shrugged, 'I guess, I just think it's a very temperamental magic really.'

Hermione nodded and said, 'Yes, I quite agree with you Theo, but I must give Trelawney the benefit of the doubt. After all she made two predictions that came very true.'

The others didn't know about this so Harry briefly explained, 'Trelawney made a prophecy about me, the prophecy said a boy born at the end of July whose parents had thrice defied Lord Voldemort would be a threat to him. Severus overheard it and told Voldemort who then killed my parents, that's why he came to the side of the light.'

The others knew parts of the story but it was good to fill in the gaps. Hermione added, 'and she made a prediction in our 3rd year that Voldemorts most loyal servant would return to him and that he'd be resurrected. Then a year later Voldemort came back.'

'Okay, so she made a couple of predictions, but mostly she's a fluke,' Dean said, chuckling. Harry sighed and gave up; nobody was going to believe him. The conversation had moved on when Daphne said quietly, 'I believe you Harry, this year she's been so much happier, so much more normal and her predictions are much better.'

Harry smiled, he knew Daphne wouldn't say something she didn't believe just to make him happy, that wasn't who she was, 'Thank you,' he said, kissing her lightly and turning back to the conversation now going on about Quidditch. In the last game Hufflepuff had surprised everyone by beating Ravenclaw at 70-50 when the snitch was caught. It put Hufflepuff in the lead with 210 points, second were Slytherin with 190 points, in third were Ravenclaw with 50 points and last, were Gryffindor, who had a mere 40 points. Harry was determined to redeem himself but their next game wasn't until February, and it was against Hufflepuff.

After dinner the group made their way to the common room, talking mainly of tactics they would use to beat Hufflepuff, the Slytherins of the group teased them and said the cup was theirs this year, but Harry wasn't going to let that happen easily.

Once they reached the top of the tower and were about to go into the common room Harry cursed, 'I left my Potions booklet in the classroom,' he told them, 'and I haven't done the homework for tomorrow, I better go grab it.'

Unfortunately Severus heard this and the last thing he heard as he hurried down the staircase was the ex-Potions master calling, 'You'll get a T anyway Potter, why bother?'

By the time Harry had jogged all the way back down the stairs, down the grand staircase, through the entrance hall and into the dungeons he was gasping for breath and had to stop and lean against the wall for a moment to get it back. Once he had he made his way into the classroom which was empty, and picked up his booklet from the spot where he'd left it, on the windowsill by his desk. With the booklet in hand he made his way back through the entrance hall, all the way up the grand staircase to the 7th floor entrance to the 8th year tower and all the way up the staircase, _again_. Harry was nosy by nature, so when he heard voices at the top of the staircase, naturally he stopped to eavesdrop.

'I want to ask you something,' said the voice of Neville Longbottom.

'If you must,' drawled Severus Snape's portrait.

'I understand why you hated Harry so much, he reminded you of the person who had taken the woman you loved from you, but why did you hate me?' Neville asked, not angry, just confused and curious.

'It's none of your business Longbottom.'

'It is though, you can't just hate someone for no reason,' Neville argued with the ex-Potions master who used to scare him so much.

There was a sigh, and then, 'I despised you because you were not the chosen one. If you had been the boy who lived then Lily would have lived and I blamed you for a long time to take the blame away from myself.'

There was silence and Harry contemplated that. It made sense, but it was very twisted logic, then again this _was _Severus Snape they were talking about, he was the master of twisted logic.

'Oh,' said Neville, a little awkwardly, 'I guess that makes sense.'

'Indeed, can you leave me alone now?'

'What? Oh, yeah, sure,' Neville said, sounding distracted, 'Lily Snape.'

Harry heard the portrait hole swing open and then shut again. He stood a moment and waited then made his way up the stairs, gave Severus the password and entered the common room. It was only a few hours after he entered the room that all hell broke loose.

Harry and Draco were lazily playing chess by the fire, Hermione had her nose stuck in a book, Neville and Hannah were engrossed in a book about rare plants of the Scottish highlands and Daphne, Sadie, Tracey and Susan were working together on a Transfiguration essay. The common room was quiet and peaceful. Lavender, Gabrielle and Isabelle were whispering gossip to each other in a corner of the room. Dean and Seamus were immersed in a game of gobstones and Parvati and Padma were writing letters home by the window with their owl gently nibbling their fingers as they wrote. Theo was polishing his broom and occasionally shouting out false moves to Draco and Harry to distract them. Mandy was quietly reading on her own at a table and Michael and Terry were discussing why the Tornadoes were the best Quidditch team ever. Ernie and Justin were cuddled up in the corner whispering to each other as Zacharias watched them distastefully from where he was doing his homework nearby. Overall, there was a good atmosphere in the common room.

Then, the portrait burst open and 3 very pissed off people stormed through it.

'You bastard! I can't believe you cheated on, with a _Hufflepuff_!'

Tessie was screaming at Blaise who glared back at her, 'Oh because you're so perfect Tessie? I know you cheated on me too, I saw you with Terry!'

Isabelle had risen from the corner, 'What?! You bitch! You're supposed to be my best friend!'

Terry had jumped up to hold back his girlfriend and Blaise was holding back Tessie. In the middle Megan stood awkwardly, but Zacharias had walked over to his girlfriend, 'You are such a whore Megan, you should have been a Slytherin, you would have fitted in perfectly!'

'Shut your fucking mouth Smith!' Tracey shouted angrily, jumping up but being held back by Dean.

Tessie sneered at them, 'It's true, the war might be over but you are all still evil bastards like he was!'

'How _dare _you compare us to Voldemort?' Daphne hissed, grabbing her wand and being held back by Harry who muttered at her to rise above it.

'Yeah because you Gryffindors are such saints,' Draco said, 'you might have fought for the light in the war but you were the ones who provided Voldemort with the one who resurrected him!'

Harry let go of Daphne and turned on Draco, 'Well fuck you Draco, he's the reason my parents are dead.'

'At least they weren't alive to see you kill their best friend!' Draco spat back.

'Your bitch of an Aunt killed Sirius, not me!' Harry yelled, and then both boys had their wands out and were fighting.

'Leave my aunt out of this!'

Neville was on his feet, 'She tortured my parents!'

'They were always insane anyway!'

Neville growled angrily and joined Harry in the duel against Draco.

Back by the portrait hole the fight was still ongoing about the cheating couples.

'Who else did you sleep with Tessie? Theo? Probably, he'd do anything no matter how ugly it was,' Blaise said nastily to the girl who was probably going to become his ex-girlfriend pretty soon.

'Theo would never cheat on me!' Sadie shouted, her temper flaring up, 'leave him out of this!'

'He isn't the saint you think he is,' Isabelle said, 'he tried something with me.'

'Why would I want anything to do with you?' Theo asked in disgust, 'you flirted with me and I told you to leave me alone.'

'You're both such lying bitches,' Sadie muttered under her breath.

'If you have something to say, say it to my face!' Tessie yelled, adding, 'oh I forgot, you're a cowardly Slytherin.'

'Better than being a cowardly Gryffindor,' Sadie remarked coldly, 'and I called you a lying bitch, by the way.'

It seemed that was the final straw because shortly after that Sadie was duelling Isabelle and Tessie who for some bizarre reason had joined forces for the time being, against Sadie.

'Why would you tell Sadie I'm cheating on her when I'm not?' Theo asked angrily his wand at the ready and pointing at Blaise.

'Because you're the biggest man slut I know?' Blaise asked his friend, the question was rhetorical, and bitter.

'Thanks a lot Blaise, you were only jealous that I could have any girl I wanted and everyone thought you were gay,' Theo remarked with an evil smirk. Blaise cursed and drew his wand and in seconds flashes of red and blue light were flying between them.

Zacharias was still angry at Megan, but he turned his hate to the rest of the year, 'I don't even know why I came back for this stupid year, I hated you all before and I hate you even more know.'

'None of us were exactly best friends with you either,' Michael Corner remarked, glaring at the guy.

'Even Justin and I can't stand you, and you're in our house,' Ernie said to the red faced Hufflepuff.

'Fuck off, like I ever wanted to be friends with you gay bastards anyway,' Zacharias said with an evil laugh.

Ernie and Justin turned on him immediately and Michael joined forces with them, shouting at Zacharias to leave his friends alone.

'This is all your fault Megan!' Terry shouted at the distraught Hufflepuff, 'you couldn't just keep it quiet, could you? You've always had a big mouth!'

'Blaise has known for weeks about you and Tessie! Did you think you were being subtle, having sex in empty classrooms without using muffliato charms? So much for Ravenclaws being clever, you're all a bunch of idiots.'

'Hey!' Came shouts from Mandy and Padma, Terry's fellow Ravenclaws. Padma remarked, 'anything is better than being a Hufflepuff, what are you good at?'

'I can think of one thing they're good at,' Mandy said nastily, 'dying.'

'You bitch!' Susan said, rising from her seat, 'Cedric died for the cause, he was one of the bravest people who fought in the second war!'

Hannah had risen to agree with her fellow housemates, 'and some Hufflepuffs are smarter than Ravenclaws, _clearly!_'

The next second several flashes of light were flying between the two groups as Terry, Padma and Mandy turned on Megan, Susan and Hannah.

Hermione had been trying and failing to split the fights up when eventually she shouted, 'Can we please stop fighting and just talk about this?'

Seamus yelled to her, 'Shut up you bushy haired freak!'

Hermione glared at him, 'Wow Seamus, can you really insult my looks, have you _looked _in a mirror yourself?'

Seamus cursed and shot a spell at her which she narrowly dodged but she had to send another one back for self-defence and she found herself locked in a duel with the Irish fool. Lavender stood next to Seamus and helped him in his duel against Hermione remarking, 'You can't talk you man-stealing slut!'

Draco and Harry upon hearing this stopped fighting each other and turned on Lavender with the shouts of 'leave my girlfriend alone!' and 'shut up about my best friend!' Parvati sided with them and turned against her former friend, 'You're the slut Lavender!'

'Says the girl dating a man much older than her? Is it for the sex or his money?'

'I can't believe I was ever best friends with you!'

There was only one part of the room not filled with the light from duels. Daphne, Tracey and Dean were watching in shock as Gabrielle stood close by watching the sight with amusement, 'Harry looks so hot when he's duelling,' Gabrielle sighed causing Daphne to turn to look at her.

'He doesn't like you Gabrielle, give it up,' Daphne said, she really couldn't be bothered with the French girl at the moment.

'If he doesn't like me, why would he have sex with me?' Gabrielle asked casually causing Daphne's temper to flare up, 'What the hell are you talking about?'

Gabrielle grinned an evil grin, 'You don't know everything about him then, do you?'

Daphne's hand was gripped tightly around her wand, 'He didn't sleep with you, you're lying.'

'He's not as perfect as you think he is,' Gabrielle said, happy at the reaction she was getting from Daphne.

'You are so obsessed with him, it's scary,' Tracey said, making fun of the girl who didn't like this at all.

It all happened very quickly because Gabrielle turned out to be excellent at duelling but in a flash she was duelling both Daphne and Tracey. Dean came to his girlfriends rescue and helped out.

The entire common room was full of shouts and insults and flashes of red, blue, yellow, white, purple and orange light. No one saw or heard the portrait hole swing open. No one heard Severus drawl, 'why did you make me guard this teenage hell?' No one saw or heard McGonagall enter the room and stop and stare in horror at the scenes around her.

However, everyone did hear the Headmistress shouting at the top of her lungs, 'SILENCE!'

Immediately the fighting stopped. Wands fell from hands and everyone turned to look at the Headmistress. Nobody had ever seen her so angry before, her face was bright red and horribly contorted.

She spoke in what was barely a whisper, but they heard every threatening word, 'Give me your wands and go to the empty classroom at the bottom of the tower. Wait there for your punishment.'

Everybody did as she said, handing over wands and walking in silence down the staircase to the classroom. They all took seats and waited as teachers came in and left and the cycle continued all through the night.

Nobody said a word until finally McGonagall re-entered the room at around 6am in the morning. She had calmed down, but she was still extremely angry and nobody in the room blamed her.

'I have tried many things to unite the houses of this school. I don't do it for fun, I do it for you, to give you a better Hogwarts experience, to help you move on from childish grudges, but no matter how hard I try you are determined to let your houses divide you. This is my last attempt to create house unity in the 8th year,' McGonagall was speaking in a low, dangerous tone of voice as she pulled out the sorting hat and placed it on the table at the front of the room.

'The sorting hat will decide the new united dorm rooms and they will _not _change, they will remain this way until the end of the school year. Am I understood?'

There were nods from around the room, but still, nobody spoke.

The rip of the hats mouth opened and it called out five names.

'Hermione Granger.'

'Daphne Greengrass.'

The two girls had brief eye contact and communicated that they were glad to share a room.

'Susan Bones.'

'Mandy Brocklehurst.'

This room sounded okay actually.

'Gabrielle Delacour.'

Daphne's eyes sparkled mischievously and Hermione was immediately worried about the warfare that could go on in their new dorm.

Next came the second female dorm.

'Tracey Davis.'

'Sadie Cauldwell.'

'Hannah Abbott.'

'Parvati Patil.'

This seemed like the only group happy with their dorm although Tracey and Sadie were sad to be separated from Daphne who they'd always shared a dorm with. As the numbers were uneven there was one dorm of 4 girls.

The sorting hat then began to call out names for the third female dorm room.

'Tessie Pritchard.'

'Isabelle Chambers.'

'Lavender Brown.'

'Megan Jones.'

'Padma Patil.'

Again there was going to be a lot of conflict in that room, especially between Tessie, Isabelle and Megan.

The hat now moved on to the male dorms and called out the first dorm names.

'Neville Longbottom.'

'Theodore Nott.'

'Dean Thomas.'

Under normal circumstances they would have shared grins at being in a room together, but they were too scared of what McGonagall might do to them if they smiled.

'Ernie MacMillan.'

'Justin Finch-Fletchley.'

Neville, Theo and Deans faces fell when they realised they were sharing a room with the resident lovebirds; this was not going to be a fun year.

The hat moved on to the second male dorm now.

'Seamus Finnigan.'

'Michael Corner.'

'Terry Boot.'

'Blaise Zabini.'

'Zacharias Smith.'

The conflict in that room was going to be endless considering they'd all cheated on their girlfriends with the girlfriends of other people in that dorm.

Finally the hat called out the last dorm, but there was already something suspicious. The numbers were uneven, and almost everyone's names had already been called out...

'Harry Potter.'

'Draco Malfoy.'

The hat stopped, and no more names were called out. McGonagall picked it up and placed it under her arm. Draco and Harry gaped at each other; they were sharing a room, just the two of them? This could be hell. They might have become best friends but Harry didn't know if he could handle sharing a dorm room with the Slytherin git.

'That is all, dismissed!' McGonagall said sharply and everyone left the room silently. It was only when they reached the common room that all the complaining started.

'I can't believe we have to share with Justin and Ernie!'

'I wish we were still sharing with Daphne.'

'I don't want to sleep with Potter!'

And so on, and so on. Although, on the bright side Tessie and Isabelle made up after dumping their respective boyfriends and Zacharias still hated everyone so he kept to himself, which suited everyone fine. Harry and Draco had shared an awkward make-up hug and Gabrielle had admitted to Daphne she'd lied about sleeping with Harry and that she'd had a crush on him for 4 years. It seemed the fight was what everyone needed to put their issues to rest and start over.

* * *

><p>The change-up of the dorm rooms had occurred early on Thursday morning and the group had gotten through the day with difficulty after having no sleep the night before. By the time the day was over they didn't care who they were sharing a dorm with because they just wanted to sleep. The dorm rooms were a neutral white and each bed had the colour of drapes of the house. Daphne tutted when she walked into her dorm room, 'Red, green, yellow and blue do not go at all, this is so tacky.' Hermione had rolled her eyes and collapsed onto her bed fully clothed, 'who cares about the colours, just sleep,' she mumbled.<p>

Most of the dorms were the same as any other dorm but when Harry and Draco reached their dorm room at the top of the stairs and walked in they were happily surprised. This was no ordinary dorm room. Instead of 5 small four-poster beds there were two large double four-poster beds and French doors leading out to a patio with a view of the black lake. It was really rather luxurious. Harry noticed a note on one of the dressers; he picked it up and read it aloud, 'Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy, I believe the hat favours you. I did not do this intentionally, I am not that kind. Sincerely, Professor McGonagall.'

Harry and Draco laughed and agreed that they could definitely get used to this.

The next morning at breakfast Harry and Draco may have boasted a little about their room and everyone complained apart from Daphne and Hermione who claimed as girlfriends they had 'visiting rights' to the luxurious dorm room. That day actually passed quite peacefully and McGonagall had eventually calmed down enough to not shout or glare at every 8th year that passed her. Harry was looking forward to getting back to the common room later and having an early night as he tucked into dinner, everybody was still catching up on their night of missed sleep. Nobody expected the announcement that came at dinner time until McGonagall stood up to give it.

'I would like to announce that there will be a Yule Ball this year, on the 24th of December from 7pm to midnight, in memoriam of Cedric Diggory. The theme is masquerade which means masks, dress robes and beautiful dresses. I'm sure you will all have fun shopping for your outfits which you can do this weekend as I have decided to make it an extra Hogsmeade weekend. The 8th years,' she added, looking to the 8th year table, 'are lucky to have been invited at all and shouldn't need to be reminded to be on their best behaviour.'

The 8th years looked sufficiently ashamed, apparently, because McGonagall seemed pleased with their reaction to her intense glare, or maybe she just liked scaring people. McGonagall thanked them for listening and sat back down. As soon as she had the hall was buzzing with people talking about what they were going to do for the ball.

Later that night Harry and Draco got abuse for having to share a room.

'Just the two of you.'

'Right at the top of the tower.'

'With your own balcony.'

'How romantic.'

And so it went on. When they got into their room that night it was a little awkward between the two friends.

Draco drew a magical line down the middle of the room, sort of like an age line and said, 'Potter, this is the line, don't cross it.'

Harry raised an eyebrow at the Slytherin and said, 'Draco, you know me, if someone puts a line in front of me and tells me not to cross it, I'll cross it.'

Draco looked shocked and confused for a moment and then said, 'Potter...was that an innuendo?'

Harry made a face, 'Ew, no! You? I might have experimented Draco, but I do have some taste!'

'Good, I don't want to sleep with you anyway!'

'Good!'

They stood a little red faced and awkward for a moment and then Draco said, 'So, we should, build a wall.'

'Am I that irresistible that you need to build a wall to stop yourself from jumping me?' Harry joked as he fell back onto his bed.

Draco snorted and said, 'Don't kid yourself.'

Harry lazily waved his wand and a red and green tapestry separated the part of the room where their beds were, 'better?'

'Much. Night Harry.'

'Night Draco.'

From the first floor there was a shout out of the window that carried up through the balcony doors, 'Night lovebirds!'

The response was, 'Shut up Theo!'

* * *

><p>On Saturday morning everybody ate together and walked into Hogsmeade together then split into groups to do their shopping. Daphne, Harry, Draco, Hermione, Sadie and Theo went off to a designer shop at the top of the village. Tracey, Dean, Neville, Hannah and Susan went to a much cheaper shop at the start of the village. Theo and Draco were paying for both their dress robes and their girlfriends dress so it being their choice to go to the expensive shop didn't matter much, but as Harry was the one paying for everything and he didn't particularly like designer clothes he felt this was one of those occasions where he had to bite his tongue and remember he was dating a high maintenance Slytherin pureblood and while that had merits, it also had catches like this one.<p>

When they walked into the expensive shop a very gay shop assistant came over and gushed over the girls amazing figures then ushered them over to the dress section. Thankfully there were exceptionally comfy chairs that Draco, Harry and Theo fell into and then they opened a pack of cards to pass the time by playing exploding snap.

Daphne looked at dresses for 3 hours before eventually trying on 6 and deciding on the last one. Harry sighed in relief when she came out with a smile on her face; he was _starving _and wanted to get out of this bloody shop. The dress was beautiful though; it was aqua blue and looked perfect with her blonde hair. The dress was long and silky and figure-hugging. The straps and bodice were silver sequined and the back was open, it was sexy, revealing and very Daphne. Harry told Daphne that he thought it was beautiful and she said to the shop assistant that she'd have it. He said it was an excellent choice and bagged it for her. Daphne then took another half an hour to pick out matching dress robes for Harry which he had to admit were rather nice, the silky material was also very comfortable so after trying them on he told the shop assistant he'd take them. The shop assistant smiled and said, 'That will be 230 Galleons, 34 Silver Sickles and 8 Knuts please.'

Harry muttered under his breath and summoned Kreacher. The elf appeared at once and bowed to Harry.

'Kreacher, take this receipt immediately to Gringotts and have them transfer the funds to the account on the receipt,' Harry informed his elf, as most Wizards didn't carry that kind of money around with them; this was how rich Wizarding families did things. The elf vanished immediately and 5 minutes later the wizard at the desk smiled and said the funds were transferred and handed them their purchases. Harry muttered to Draco that he'd just paid an extortionate amount of money to look like he was from bloody Beauxbatons.

Hermione complained about the prices of the dresses and said it was ridiculous. Draco rolled his eyes, 'Hermione, you could buy any dress in here and it would hardly make a dent on my bank account.'

Hermione glared at him, 'Just because you're a rich bastard doesn't mean you have to buy me the best of everything.'

'Actually, it sort of does,' Draco joked, adding, 'now pick a dress or I'll let Harry pick one for you.'

'Oh God no,' Hermione muttered, causing both Harry and Draco to laugh as she looked through dresses and found 2 to try on. Unlike Daphne she tried them both on and said she liked them both and which one did Draco prefer.

He examined them both and said, 'The green one is nice because its Slytherin colours, but the blue one makes your boobs look bigger, go for the blue one.'

Hermione glared playfully at her boyfriend, 'I was going to go for the blue one anyway, but thank you very much Mr. Sarcastic.'

Draco did a fake bow and Hermione laughed and did one last twirl for him. The dress she had chosen was a subtle blue and was floor length and figure- hugging. It had a silver sequined strip under the bust and matching silver sequined straps. The neckline was very low, but it worked for Hermione and it didn't look particularly revealing. Once Hermione had her dress sorted Draco looked through robes and came strutting out of the changing rooms wearing silver robes, Harry and Theo laughed, but the robes actually kind of worked for him. He decided he looked marvellous, Hermione said she liked them and as easily as that they bought their items. Draco used Kreacher, which was what gave Harry the idea, but by that point Daphne hadn't even tried a dress on yet. They then left to do their own shopping and agreed to meet up before going to find a mask.

Sadie, was rather like Hermione, although she came from a high class pureblood family and was used to shopping in places like this one so it didn't seem unusual to spend so much money on clothes for her, or for Theo. She looked through dresses for a while with Daphne; about an hour after Draco and Hermione had left she tried on the first few. She described them all as depreciating to her figure in some way until finally she came out in a simple classical style dress that suited her perfectly. The dress was cream with a corset bodice. The bodice had a gold strip up the middle with gold ribbon tightening the corset at the front, it was pretty much strapless with sleeves that fell to the sides for decoration rather than to hold it up. The skirt also had gold strip down it matching that on the bodice. Theo had grinned when she'd bought it and had bounded out of the changing rooms wearing gold robes, just to outsmart Draco. Like his Slytherin counterpart he really pulled them off so with their items bought by Theo's house elf Konky they left after an hour and a half in the shop. Poor Harry was stuck in the place for another 2 hours with his high maintenance girlfriend who promised she'd make it up to him later with a wink.

* * *

><p>Things had been much easier in the cheaper dress shop for the others. Neville and Dean sat down in hard, un-comfy chairs and brought out a game of pocket wizards chess to pass the time, but they'd been surprised at how fast their girlfriends, and Susan, had picked out dresses.<p>

Hannah had only tried a few on when she came out in a beautiful lemon yellow dress; it looked lovely against her tanned skin and blonde hair. The dress was floor length with a halter neck. It had a silver sequined strip under the bust and showed a bit of cleavage, which Neville may or may not have gotten a smack for pointing out, the halter neck strap was also silver sequined. Neville bought a set of new black dress robes that were flecked with silver and at just 24 Galleons, 13 Silver Sickles and 3 Knuts, much less than Harry had paid at the designer shop.

Dean was surprised when Tracey came out after only trying on 3 dresses and he had to admit the one she had chosen was very her, it was unique. Unlike everyone else who seemed to be buying long dresses this dress stopped just above the knee. The dress was very figure hugging at the waist and was strapless, Dean made a comment about how only Tracey had the chest to pull it off and got a 'Hey!' from Susan who Dean agreed, was probably the only _other _person who could. At her hips the dress fanned out a little, but not ridiculously and the skirt was dotted with black sequins, the hem of the dress was adorned with gold sequins and Tracey looked amazing in it. Dean, like Neville, picked out a new set of black dress robes with gold fastenings and at a mere 20 galleons, 9 silver sickles and 5 knuts they sat down and waited with Neville and Hannah for Susan.

Susan didn't take too long either, she came out after trying on 5 dresses and said she was pretty sure the one she had on now was the one for her. Dean and Neville both got a slap for staring. Susan's dress was like her, sexy. It was floor-length with a slit that started mid-thigh. The dress was strapless and very revealing, but Susan had the chest to pull it off. It was made up of lots of tiny gold and silver squares arranged like a mosaic and there was a cream strip under the bust.

With everything bought they left the shop after only an hour and decided to go for a drink and some lunch in the Three Broomsticks because they knew the others would take much longer.

* * *

><p>As it worked out, they all ended up meeting up in the mask shop. Harry, Daphne, Draco, Hermione, Theo and Sadie had stopped for lunch at a cafe and made their way to the shop just as Neville, Hannah, Tracey, Dean and Susan were entering. Luckily this didn't take as long as it had taken to get the dresses. The boys left the girls to get both masks since apparently they had to match and they all set up in the corner for a massive game of exploding snap.<p>

Daphne picked out a blue and white eye mask for herself. The right side was blue with silver wavy lines on it and the left side was white with blue wavy lines on it. There was a blue jewel in the centre at the top. She picked out a silver and black eye mask for Harry, it was silver and glittery and around the eyes were two black swans facing each other. He grumbled that it was a bit girly but told Daphne he'd get it.

Hermione picked out a blue and silver eye mask for herself. It was silver mainly and like Harry's it had two swans facing each other around the eye holes, but the swans were blue instead. She picked one out for Draco that was perfect, it was mainly metallic silver, but the nose, and above the eyes was a dark navy blue.

Sadie got a simple cream eye mask for herself. It had white beads coming off the bottom of it and a silver jewel in the centre at the top. It was lined with white lace. There were a few white feathers coming out of the top of the mask. For Theo, to match his robes she bought him a white and gold eye mask. It was white with a gold trim and gold stars and moons all over it.

Hannah picked out a beautiful gold eye mask. It was specked with gold sequins and had a gold lace trim. There was a silver jewel in the centre at the top and had gold strips coming down from each side that blended in with her blonde hair. For Neville she picked out a mask similar to Theo's. It was black with a gold trim and gold stars and moons.

Susan got a white and black eye mask with a fancy flower on the side of it. It was white with a black trim around the edge of the mask and around the eyes with black sequins on the nose. There was a black flower attached to the right side of the mask with white feathers coming from it.

With everything bought they happily made their way back to the castle after what had been an exciting day for the girls and a boring day for the guys, as shopping for these events always was. Thank Merlin it was over again.

* * *

><p>Harry was lying on his bed reading a book when a thought struck him about New Years.<p>

'Hey, Draco...' Harry called out.

'Yeah?' Draco called back.

'You decent?' Harry asked and when Draco said he was with a flick of his wand Harry pulled the curtain between them back so he could look at his friend.

'I was thinking of having a New Year's party.'

'That's a good idea,' Draco said, thoughtfully adding, 'Here? At Hogwarts?'

Harry shook his head, 'Nah, that's where I was struggling, trying to think of somewhere to have it.'

'Well,' said Draco, who was lying on his back looking at the top of his four-poster bed, 'we can't have at it the Manor, the ballroom is where Hermione was tortured.'

'And it's not exactly the warmest place at the moment,' Harry added to which Draco snorted and said, 'that's a slight understatement.'

'Grimmauld place has a ballroom,' Harry remarked, 'but it probably hasn't been used in about 20 years.'

Draco nodded, 'Hm,' he said, 'do you mind if I go get Hermione and Daphne?'

'Sure,' Harry said, watching Draco get up and stretch, 'Why?'

Draco shrugged, 'Well if we're going to brainstorm this properly we need them.'

Harry chuckled and said Draco was probably right and the Slytherin vanished from the room. Harry went back to his book, too busy thinking about the possibility of the party to really read it. Draco returned to their dorm room with the two girls about 15 minutes later.

Hermione sat down on Draco's bed and Daphne on Harry's.

'Here's the thing Harry, I have an idea, but it would involve giving you your Christmas present early,' Hermione said, sounding very sneaky, Draco and Daphne had clearly rubbed off on her.

'Okay,' Harry said, 'I don't mind.'

Hermione smiled at Draco and Daphne, were they all in on this?

'Well, we can go now, if you'd like,' Hermione suggested, standing up. Harry nodded eagerly, 'Are we apparating there?'

Hermione nodded and Harry said, 'We'll go from the balcony then.'

'Harry,' Hermione sighed, 'you can't apparate in or out of Hogwarts.'

'You can from our balcony,' Draco said, smiling and then he explained, 'Did you not notice that this balcony just suddenly appeared?'

'That's right,' Daphne realised, 'it wasn't here before.'

Harry nodded, elaborating, 'Some theorists believe that after having magic used on her and inside her for so many years Hogwarts has become sentient, like it has a brain of its own, and for some reason we can apparate from this balcony.'

Hermione didn't believe them until she stood on the balcony and held Harry's hand then twisted to apparate thinking nothing would happen. Then she opened her eyes and they were standing outside Grimmauld place.

Even from first glance Harry could tell something was different about the house. It was no longer old and grubby looking, it looked brand new and clean now. Hermione led Harry inside and the changes were remarkable.

The once narrow entrance hall was widened and was lit by candles in golden candleholders along the walls. He looked up and saw that the stairs going right up to the top floor were now white marble with a golden railing. The portrait of Sirius's Mother that everyone had tried so hard to remove was gone and in its place was a large portrait of Sirius who winked at Harry as he walked into the house. Harry couldn't speak, he was so shocked, Hermione led him up the corridor and to the left. There were two doors, and Hermione first showed him into the one of the right. It was the formal dining room which had white walls and a large oak table with matching oak chairs. The portraits on the walls all had names under them and were his ancestors going right back to Ignotus Peverell. The door to the left was a small library with high bookshelves lining every wall. It also doubled up as a study with a few oak tables and chairs dotted around the room.

Hermione led Harry up the stairs to the 2nd floor with Draco and Daphne trailing behind and watching Harry take in every small detail. On the second floor she showed him the drawing room which doubled as a ballroom. The walls were white and there was a large marble fireplace at the end of the room. The tapestry was gone and in its place was his own family tree on a white background with gold writing and gold leaves like a large tree. Harry didn't even bother hiding his tears as he admired the wall. The only furniture in the room was a few gold and red sofas and some oak coffee tables. Also on the 2nd floor was a small bedroom that had its own bathroom attached to it, with white walls and a four-poster bed with gold hangings.

On the 3rd floor there wasn't much because the drawing room had a high ceiling that took up most of that floor. There was another small bedroom decorated the same way with a toilet. The 4th floor had a large master bedroom which Hermione had decorated with the same white walls and four-poster, this one had red and gold hangings however. There was also a small coffee table and a red and gold sofa, as well as a large oak wardrobe and chest of drawers. There was also a small bathroom and another small bedroom.

The 5th floor was the most personal although it didn't have much. There were stairs to the attic and two doors. One to Sirius's bedroom and one to Regulus's with a shared bathroom in the middle with a door from both bedrooms.

Hermione spoke up, 'Dean went through Regulus's room and took everything of importance to him,' she opened the door and showed him how everything was white and there was a new bed, like the other rooms. She then made her way over to Sirius's and opened the door, 'I did as little to it as possible.'

Hermione had re-painted the walls so they were white and had replaced the old bed with a new one, but the posters and the pictures and the Gryffindor banners remained on the walls. Harry smiled and hugged her, still not able to speak.

'I can't thank you enough for this Hermione-' he began to say, but Draco stopped him, 'we aren't done yet, you haven't seen the basement.'

Harry frowned, wondering how much you could do to a basement as he followed the others back down. All the floors were marble and all the candleholders and railings were gold, it looked like a grand manor, Potter Manor, Harry couldn't help but think to himself. When they reached the stairs to the basement Hermione covered Harry's eyes, and led him down and through a door. He opened them and looked around at the kitchen which looked amazing. It had a marble floor and marble counters with a large oak table in the middle and matching oak chairs. It looked fantastic. Hermione then showed Harry into a small corridor and into the last room which was magically expanded. It was a duelling room, and it looked amazing. This room was long and thin with a large long, thin platform in the middle. The platform was wooden with a red mat with gold stars. At the end of the room was a bar, Hermione knew him so well.

Harry, suffice to say, broke down into tears and hugged Hermione, then Draco, then Daphne. Draco got them all a glass of firewhiskey and they sat at the bar.

'How did you do all of this?' Harry asked, wiping his eyes in embarrassment.

'Well, I organised it all with Kreacher. Draco funded it, but Kreacher and I did the hard work, Daphne helped too, but this room was all Draco's idea.' Harry grinned at the Slytherin, 'Thanks mate.'

Draco shrugged with a sheepish smile and sipped from his glass of firewhiskey.

'So, are we having this party?'

Harry grinned, 'Definitely,' he said, raising his glass and saying, 'to the most amazing friends.'

The others echoed the toast and drained their glasses of firewhiskey.

Life was good.

**_TBC_**


	29. Goodbye & Hello

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 29 – Goodbye & Hello**

Classes ended on Friday the 19th of December, and at dinner that day an announcement was given that made Harry and Hermione shocked. McGonagall called for attention and stood up, 'I would like to pass over to Hagrid who has an announcement to make.'

Hagrid stood, looking a little embarrassed and nodded to the hall, 'I just thought ter let yer all know that I'm stepping down as Care of Magical Creatures Professor and that ye'll have a new teacher after Christmas.'

Hermione and Harry had gaped at each other as the students politely applauded and Hagrid sat back down. They silently agreed to get the invisibility cloak out later and go visit him, for old times' sake.

There was a party planned for that night, which was set to kick off at 8pm so as Neville and Draco were sneaking alcohol into the common room Harry threw the cloak over himself and Hermione and they made their way through the empty castle and across the freezing cold grounds to Hagrid's hut. They knocked on the door and when he opened it and saw nothing but air he said, 'Come in Harry.'

Harry shot Hermione a grin under the cloak and they took it off and walked into the warm hut. They sat down at the table instinctively and Hagrid asked them if they wanted a cup of tea. They said yes and he got to work boiling the kettle.

'Hagrid, you're not leaving, are you?' Harry asked, rather vulnerably, Hagrid had been a constant figure in his life. Every year he'd been there, to give him tea or talk to him when he felt alone, no matter what role he played in Harry's wizarding life he'd always been there.

Hagrid turned around to face them with a frown, 'No, o' course not!' he seemed appalled at the suggestion, 'I'm stayin' as gamekeeper. I'm jus' retiring from teachin'.'

'Why?' Hermione asked curiously, being her usual nosy self.

Hagrid blushed as he set down two large mugs on tea and some rock cakes in front of Harry and Hermione, 'Well ter be honest, it's so I can spend more time with my fiancé.'

Harry and Hermione gaped some more, 'fiancé?' they asked, in unison.

Hagrid nodded, his face went pink and he said, 'Olympe has been comin' over every so often and I asked her ter marry me and she said yes.'

'Oh Hagrid!' Hermione gushed, 'that's brilliant! Congratulations!' She bounded at the half giant and hugged him, embarrassing him even more. Harry just smiled and said, 'That's great Hagrid, congratulations.'

They sat and talked over tea and rock cakes a little longer and then they made their way back up to the castle to get changed and have a damn good party.

* * *

><p>The party that night didn't get out of hand too quickly, but it <em>did <em>get out of hand. Professor Sinistra, who taught Astronomy, was the first to come up to put an end to their partying. Sinistra, however, was one of the youngest teachers, she was around the same age, Harry assumed, as Charlie Weasley. Harry and Ron had often talked about how she was the only teacher in the school they'd ever consider an illustrious affair with because she was extremely attractive. Sinistra had tanned skin and long brown hair; she had brown eyes and high cheekbones, as well as Angelina Jolie lips.

'Guys, I know it's the end of term,' she called, over the noise, 'but I think you should quiet down a little.'

Somehow they managed to get her to join in with the party and start drinking firewhiskey with the 8th years, it was probably because she was closer in age to them than her colleagues. Her being there only caused a little conflict. She was dancing with Draco, dancing very closely with him and he seemed to be enjoying it a lot more than he should have. He slinked over to Hermione and said, as casually as he could muster, 'So whats the deal with one night stands?'

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, 'Seriously Draco?'

Draco moaned, 'But Mioneeee, she's in my top 5!'

Hermione was frowning now, 'and what exactly is that?'

'You've never heard of a top 5?' Draco asked, completely astonished, but Hermione shook her head so he explained, 'the 5 people you would have sex with if you had the chance. Who are yours?'

Hermione didn't actually look annoyed, in fact, she grabbed his arm and marched him up the boy's staircase to the room he shared with Harry at the top of the tower and whispered, 'Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.'

Draco grinned, 'That's only 4 love.'

Hermione smirked, 'Oh yeah, and Harry Potter.'

'Oi!' Draco said, offended and Hermione grinned as she pushed him into the dorm room and kissed him, 'I'm only kidding,' she said, letting him sigh in relief before adding, 'been there, done that.'

Draco gaped at her, kind of in shock and kind of in admiration as she pushed him back onto the bed and drew the curtains.

'Still want anyone apart from me?'

'No, just you please.'

Luckily, the party downstairs was loud enough to drown out anything going on at the top of the tower. The next teacher sent to stop the party was Poliakoff who was, quite literally, drawn in by Parvati and ended up joining the party too. Really, it was quite an interesting night. By the time McGonagall had turned up at midnight to break it up Justin and Ernie had vanished into the tower and mysteriously enough so had Parvati and Poliakoff. In reality, a lot of the couples had slinked off at several points during the night, including Lavender and Seamus. Gabrielle had apparently entranced Terry because they'd vanished a few hours ago too.

McGonagall shouted at them and then left and after that the party came to an end and most people made their way up to the dorm rooms to go to bed. The only people left in the common room were the usual suspects, Daphne, Harry, Tracey, Dean, Sadie, Theo, Blaise, Susan, Neville and Hannah. After everyone else had gone up to bed, Draco and Hermione came back down into the common room, getting some catcalls and sniggers from the way they looked. Hermione's hair was slightly bushier than usual and Draco, who was usually so immaculate, had messy hair.

Theo whistled and said, 'It must have been good if you managed to keep his hair messy,' he winked at Draco and said, 'is that the Potter look you've got going on there?'

Draco glared at Theo and immediately slicked his hair back causing the others to roll their eyes or laugh.

'The party's dying,' Daphne said, leaning back in her armchair with a glass of firewhiskey in hand.

'For them, maybe,' Theo said, with a glint in his eye that told them he had an idea. He grabbed an old firewhiskey bottle and put a spinning charm on it then placed it in the middle of the room.

The others groaned at the 'childish' idea but they had all had a lot to drink and didn't want the party to end, so they got themselves a top up of whatever they were drinking and formed a circle around the bottle.

The bottle stopped first on Dean and then second on Susan. Tracey laughed as Dean awkwardly walked over to the Hufflepuff and kissed her quickly so as not to get in trouble with his girlfriend. The next pair to kiss was Tracey and Sadie who joked that it wouldn't be the first time. The game went on, with lots of different variations and lots more alcohol. Daphne kissed Draco, which nobody but Harry noticed was slightly awkward and looked almost too familiar. Draco kissed Sadie, and again, it had probably happened before. Theo didn't look too happy but on his next turn he had to kiss Tracey, so all was fair. Harry had to kiss someone on the next turn, much to his distaste it was the first male/male kiss and it was with Dean, they both got it over with very quickly. Neville then had to kiss Susan and Hannah watched with narrow eyes, but it didn't last any longer than it had too, even though Hannah suspected Neville enjoyed it. Hermione kissed Harry on their next turn and while the rest of them had quickly kissed and left it there Hermione and Harry were more scheming and Marauder-like for that. They _had _kissed before, several times, during their horcrux hunt in the tent, so it wasn't like it was anything new. Harry knew a kiss with Hermione wouldn't offend Daphne, but they both knew it _would _offend Draco so they kissed properly, amidst gasps from the others they heard Draco _growl_. When they broke apart Hermione smiled mischievously at Draco who muttered in her ear that he'd get his payback in the bedroom later.

Theo and Blaise had to share a rather awkward kiss after that, giving Harry and Draco a chance to get their own back for all the teasing they'd gotten for having to share a room. Daphne and Tracey kissed, it looked like they'd done it before, more than once, and Harry and Dean had to cross their legs for the next few turns. When Hermione had to kiss Susan the only person fazed by it was the Gryffindor, but Draco had to snigger and say that was what she got for her passionate kiss with Harry. The bottle then landed on Neville and Theo which had to be the most awkward and hilarious kiss of the night.

But on the last turn, the bottle landed on Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.

'I am so not kissing you,' Harry said, eying up Draco with disgust.

'You think I want to kiss you? You scrawny, specky Gryffindork.'

They did it, but very quickly, so it was over and they didn't have to think about it. Then they took their respective girlfriends upstairs, drew the curtain between their beds and cast powerful muffliato charms. They soon forgot all about the kiss.

* * *

><p>After the party the group decided to do their Christmas shopping so they got up, got dressed, ate and made their way to the gates to apparate to Diagon Alley. Once they arrived via the Leaky Cauldron they split up into men and women, to get their girlfriends presents first. Harry, Draco, Theo, Neville and Dean went off in one direction and Daphne, Hermione, Sadie, Tracey, Hannah and Susan (who had joined them, because she was fast become a close friend of Daphne and Hermione) went off in another direction.<p>

They shopped for a while, taking a long time to pick the perfect gifts but when the boys made their way to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch they were satisfied. The girls took a bit longer but when they came back laden with bags they seemed happy too. They were all about to sit down and eat some lunch when they heard a familiar voice a few tables away.

The voice rasped, 'Can I get you a drink?'

An unfamiliar voice replied, 'Yes, a sherry please.'

The raspy voice of Filch gave the order to Tom, the barman, and Harry glanced behind him to get a quick look. He didn't recognise the woman with Filch. She had long, wavy blonde hair and dark black rimmed glasses. She was wearing pale lilac robes and a dark violet cloak.

'How are you holding up today?' Filch asked the woman, and Harry had to admit, he barely recognised the caretaker. He was wearing black trousers, a black shirt and his dark brown overcoat, he had combed his hair and it looked browner and less grey, he looked 10 years younger.

The woman replied, 'I'm okay, all things considered. I still miss Marlene and Matthew every day.'

Filch nodded, 'The McKinnons were good people.'

It seemed that everyone at their table had gone quiet to listen to this conversation, which was kind of unfair but it was interesting and they were all nosy or Slytherin.

'It takes me back to it all,' the woman said, sounding sad and fed up, 'Marlene and Matthew were the first to go, and I still had Alice and Lily, but then they all died and in one night I'd lost my closest friends and my fiancé.'

Filch looked sympathetic, but they couldn't really see the woman's face because of the way she was sitting. This woman, she'd been friends with his parents, and Neville's parents.

* * *

><p>Trelawney sipped at her sherry as there was silence at their table.<p>

'Is that why you...' Filch trailed off, but Trelawney nodded, 'I locked away that part of me to protect myself and everyone thought I was crazy.'

She couldn't stop the flashbacks as she told her story properly for the first time. She remembered the night she'd turned up at Godric's Hollow to find Lily, James, Alice and Frank all dead, and their two baby boys being sent off to different parts of the country. She remembered the guilt; she'd given the prophecy that had killed her two closest friends, the two girls she'd gone through Hogwarts with. She remembered how angry he'd been, how much he blamed her.

_Trelawney was sitting with a cold cup of coffee in her hands, staring into space, when Remus Lupin walked into the small cottage they shared together._

_He'd clearly just come from the wreckage. He looked distraught, angry, tired and fed up. He'd just lost everything, all of his friends, in 24 hours, just like she had. _

_She stood, to hug him, to find comfort in him, but that wasn't what she received. He pushed her back when she tried to hug him and screamed at her, at the top of his lungs, this was a man who she'd never seen angry before. She could smell the firewhiskey on his breath, his eyes were red and bloodshot and he looked terrible, like he'd just spent hours in a pub trying to drink away his misery._

'_YOU KILLED THEM! YOU KILLED THEM ALL WITH YOUR STUPID PROPHECY! YOU KILLED OUR CLOSEST FRIENDS!'_

_Trelawney shrunk back as he magically packed everything he owned in the house into a suitcase in the space of 5 minutes._

_She begged with him, tried to reason with him, 'I didn't know, when I gave it I didn't know, and I didn't realise Snape was listening. Remus, please, I lost everything tonight too, please Remus, don't go, Remus, I love you, don't leave me like this, Remus, REMUS!'_

_In the end she was left in the pouring rain on her knees watching him walk briskly away with his suitcase in his hand. He apparated when he reached the gate and she never saw him again, not as Sybil Trelawney, the normal human being anyway._

'What happened to you?' Filch asked, sounding curious, but not just in a nosy way, in a caring way, like he wanted to find out more about her.

Trelawney sighed, looking down to compose herself, 'I'm not quite sure. I know that Dumbledore found me, and that he took me to 's.'

_When Albus Dumbledore arrived at the cottage Sybil Trelawney shared with Remus Lupin he was shocked and horrified at the sight. The entire house was gone. All that was left of it was ashes and bits of blackened timber. In the middle of the wreckage sat Sybil Trelawney, curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth with a picture of herself, Lily, Alice and Marlene, and repeating the same phrase over and over again._

'_I killed them. I killed them. I killed them.'_

_Dumbledore had gone over to her and she'd jumped when he touched her face. She was covered in soot and ash, as Dumbledore picked her up and carried her down the path, away from the burnt wreckage. She was as light as a child with her slim form and he felt truly sorry for her. A tear fell down his face as he apparated to St. Mungos._

_The healers took her away and performed tests and Dumbledore waited for hours until they were done, sitting in the waiting room reading magazine after magazine._

_When the healers finally came out, they had bad news._

Trelawney continued, 'The healers told Dumbledore that I had locked a third of my brain away, it wasn't functioning anymore. I could still live and perform everyday tasks but the part of my brain that contained my memories and emotions was shut off, and because of that I was no longer a seer.'

Filch was nodding, intrigued by her story, 'So when you made real predictions? Was that the part you locked away coming back?'

Trelawney smiled, glad he understood, she nodded, 'To an extent, yes, and after I made a real prediction 5 years ago little bits slowly began to come back, but then something changed. Once Harry Potter defeated Voldemort it was as if I had closure and the part I'd locked away came alive again.'

'So, when you weren't you, and Lupin taught at Hogwarts, you didn't recognise him?' Filch asked.

Trelawney shook her head, 'No, I had no idea who he was.'

_Remus Lupin approached her cautiously when he got the first chance to talk to her alone, in a corridor somewhere on the 5__th__ floor._

'_Sybil?'_

_Trelawney smiled at him, 'Yes? Do I know you?'_

_Remus frowned, 'I'm Remus Lupin.'_

_Trelawney thought very hard and shook her head, 'No, I don't think I remember you.' She said._

_Remus had been told all about her breakdown so he just nodded, a little sadly and said, 'We went to Hogwarts together.'_

'_Oh, yes,' Trelawney said, 'I recognise your face.' _

_They didn't speak much for the rest of the year and Remus was in love with Nymphadora Tonks when Trelawney regained enough of her memories to understand who he had been to her._

Trelawney smiled, pushing thoughts of Remus away, 'Anyway, that's enough about me,' she said, 'whats your story?'

Filch sighed, looking embarrassed, 'I never knew my Father; he was imprisoned when I was 4 months old. Dumbledore was close friends with him so he took me in but he realised I was a squib when I never got a Hogwarts letter. So he sent me to Muggle school and when I left at 18 he gave me a job at Hogwarts,' he gave her a wry smile, 'he thought it would stabilise me.'

Trelawney chuckled, 'He's good that way,' she said, 'he gave me the job at Hogwarts to keep me in a stable environment so I didn't relapse anymore and shut off any other parts of my brain.'

Filch gave her another wry smile and they sipped their drinks silently for a moment before Trelawney spoke again, 'that can't be all there is to your story. I might have been a fake for years, but I _am _a seer and I can tell something happened that left you bitter and angry.'

Filch shrugged, 'Nobody knows it apart from Dumbledore, but my Father was Grindelwald. He'd have been so ashamed if he ever found out his son was a squib, he probably would have killed me. My second name was changed by Dumbledore to protect me from the inevitable hate that would come my way if anyone knew of my true parentage.'

'I can understand why you'd need protection,' Trelawney said, looking thoughtfully at the opposite wall.

Filch sighed, drinking deeply from his glass of firewhiskey, now that he'd started talking he couldn't stop, 'I met an incredible witch when I worked at Hogwarts. She was called Miranda Norris, and she was the flying coach before Rolanda took over,' he had a small smile on his face.

'Norris,' Trelawney said, smiling too, 'like your cat.'

The smile fell away as Filch's face darkened. He nodded, sighing, 'We got married and she fell pregnant. She was 7 months pregnant when she got dragon pox and the baby had to be delivered 2 months premature. The process killed Miranda and I was left on my own with a baby girl.'

'I didn't realise you had a daughter,' Trelawney gasped, he'd never mentioned it, and she'd never seen a girl with Filch.

'She's gone now,' Filch said, his voice raspier than usual, 'She went to Hogwarts and became a Ravenclaw, like her Mother. She was about to sit her N.E.W.T's in 7th year when she got dragon pox, like her Mother.'

'I'm so sorry Argus,' Trelawney said, 'it must be awful, your child dying before you.'

'She isn't dead,' Filch said, his eyes darting from the table to the floor and back again, 'but she might as well be.'

At the look of shock and confusion on Trelawney's face Filch elaborated, 'Abraxas Malfoy offered me a miracle cure to save my daughter. He told me it was ground-breaking new magic that would pave the way for St. Mungo's. That much was true, but what he didn't tell me was that it was still very much in the experimental phase. He transformed her into a cat, because they are immune to the virus, and after a week, he realised that he couldn't change her back.'

Trelawney looked horrified, 'So Mrs. Norris is...'

She didn't need to finish the thought and Filch nodded, unable to look at her, thinking she'd hate him, 'I understand your pain, it's my fault my daughters imprisoned the way she is. It wasn't accidental that Malfoy couldn't change her back. He found out that I was Grindelwald's son and he was enraged that I was a squib; he decided to punish me by taking the magic out of my skilled daughter. She'd gotten an O in every single one of her O.W.L's,' Filch said, both sad and proud of how clever his little girl had been.

'That's disgusting,' Trelawney said, close to tears at the end of the tale. Filch shrugged, he'd clearly grown accustomed to the fact his daughter was a cat.

'How long has it been?'

'13 years.'

'Is that why you hate magic, because of what it did to your daughter?'

Filch only gave her a nod as he drained his glass of firewhiskey.

'What was her name?' Trelawney asked softly.

'Melody,' Filch replied, his eyes swimming with tears and emotions.

'That's a beautiful name.'

'It was.'

* * *

><p>Everyone was silent when they got back to Hogwarts. They didn't talk as they trudged up the snowy path to the warmth of the entrance hall. Nobody wanted dinner so they made their way, silently, to the common room where they split off into smaller groups.<p>

Draco made his way upstairs and although Hermione knew he wanted to be alone, she also knew he needed someone to talk too so she followed him up the stairs and into his room.

'I'm sorry, about your Grandfather.

Draco just shook his head, angry, but not at her, 'I thought he was perfect. You know how it is, you can point out the faults with your parents but it seems like your Grandparents can do no wrong.'

Hermione nodded, she did understand. Draco seemed close to tears, as he had been in the pub, 'He taught me how to fly, he took me to every Quidditch match, he used to sit up all night with me and tell me stories.'

Hermione gently placed her arm on Draco's as he said, 'I can't believe he did that to someone, a girl our age, just to advance medical magic.'

'He was ambitious and would do anything to achieve his ends. Draco, isn't that how Slytherins are described?' Hermione asked, although the question was rhetorical.

'I always thought he was different,' Draco mused, 'I didn't think he was pure evil, like I thought my Father was.'

'He wasn't a Death Eater,' Hermione said, not sure if it helped or not, 'he wasn't exactly a nice person and Melody Filch wasn't the first person sacrificed in the name of research, but if it helps you sleep at night, he wasn't a Death Eater.'

'How do you know all of this?' Draco asked, sniffing and pretending to stretch as he dried his eyes.

Hermione looked sheepish, 'I researched you a little, before we started dating.'

Draco's eyes widened, 'You did what?' he asked, in a dangerous whisper.

Hermione shrunk back slightly, 'Draco, the war had just ended. Nobody really knew if you actually had reformed, I had to be careful. You dating me could have been some big plot for revenge.'

'You thought I'd do that?' Draco asked; the hurt in his voice painful to Hermione. She didn't get a chance to speak as he continued, 'You thought I'd pretend to love you? And what do you think now? Do you still think it's just a big plot for revenge?'

At that point Hermione burst into tears and said, 'No, no of course not! I'd just lost my best friend and I was falling in love with someone I'd hated for years and everything changed and we were becoming friends with people we hadn't spoken to in 7 years and it was all so confusing and I was scared!' She said all of this very quickly and flung herself at Draco who held her close and hugged her tightly.

'I love you, Draco.'

'I love you too, Hermione.'

* * *

><p>When Harry came downstairs on Sunday the 21st of December the common room was in the middle of a massive transformation. There was a huge Christmas tree in the middle of the room that most of the 8th years were helping to decorate. There were banners all around the room and Daphne was whistling a Christmas tune to herself as she hung mistletoe over various doorways.<p>

Harry grinned, walking up behind her, grabbing her around the middle and pulling her off the stool she was standing on. She squealed as he spun her around, set her down on the ground and kissed her, 'Good morning,' he said.

Daphne giggled, 'Good morning,' she replied, 'what do you think?'

Harry grinned, 'I think it looks fantastic, you are brilliant.'

'I know, I know,' Daphne joked, kissing Harry again and climbing back up onto her stool to finish the mistletoe she was working on. The common room did look fantastic, like Santa's grotto.

Harry, who had gotten up closer to lunchtime than breakfast, had made his way to the kitchens for brunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon helping the others finish off the common room. When it was finished they all had dinner and sat down to relax in their new winter wonderland that night.

Daphne and Harry were hugging on the couch when the conversation started that caused them to have their first argument as a couple.

'I can't wait until the New Year's party,' Harry was saying to Draco, as he sat with one arm around Daphne and the other writing a list of invitations to be sent out after Christmas to the guests.

'Me either,' Draco agreed, thinking about who else they needed to put on the guest list. He leaned over and tried to make out Harry's scrawled, note like list. It read:

'_Weasleys + partners._

_8__th__ year._

_McG, Flitwick, Sprout, Tree, Sinistra, Polia, Hagrid.'_

'_Luna, Colin, Dennis + Ant.'_

'_Daph fam.'_

'_Mr + Mrs G.' _

'_Draco fam.'_

'_Sad fam.'_

'_Theo fam.'_

'_Trac fam.'_

'_Andy + Teddy.'_

'_Diggory's.'_

'_King Shackle.'_

'_Krum.'_

'_Cho.'_

'_Dud + Pet.'_

'_Wood, Spin, Bell.'_

'_Abe.'_

'Harry, your writing is unbelievably bad. What is sadfam?'

'What?' Harry asked, he then looked to where Draco was pointing, 'Its Sadie family, fam means family, and the names are shortened.'

'Who is King Shackle?'

'Kingsley Shacklebolt.'

'Why have you put Trelawney down at Tree?'

'Because Trelawney is too long and I can't spell it.'

'Why is McGonagall called McG?'

'Because I know she prefers it to Minnie.'

Draco raised an eyebrow at him, but before anymore could be said Daphne interrupted.

'Aren't you going to be excited about Christmas before you get excited about New Years?'

Harry shrugged, 'I prefer New Year, I've never really been big on Christmas.'

'Why?' Daphne asked, taking it as a personal blow almost.

Harry shrugged, 'I just don't think it's worth all the fuss.'

'But _why_?' Daphne asked, getting more annoyed by the second.

'I just don't see why it's such a big deal, alright?' Harry was getting annoyed too now.

'Whatever,' Daphne said, standing up, slamming her book shut and storming up the girl's staircase.

'Daphne, what the hell?' Harry called, hurrying up the stairs after her, into her dorm.

'Maybe _you _don't like Christmas Potter, but _I _do!' Daphne shouted, and Harry couldn't fathom why she was so angry.

'Okay fair enough, you are allowed to like Christmas! Calm down!' Harry shouted, but not angrily, just so she'd listen to him.

Daphne glared at him and sat down on her bed. Harry rolled his eyes, 'Just because you like something doesn't mean everyone else has too,' he explained, 'now what the hell is the big deal about Christmas with you?'

Daphne was silent for a while and Harry didn't think she was going to speak, so after 10 minutes of silence he turned to leave. Daphne chose that moment to start speaking.

'When I was a kid my Dad hated Christmas. He didn't let us celebrate it. We got one present every year and apart from that it was treated as a normal day. There was never a tree, or decorations, or a fancy meal, it was just an average day,' Daphne wasn't crying, but she was shaking a little and Harry sat down next to her on the bed, putting his arm around her.

'So, when I got to Hogwarts, and saw how it was celebrated I loved it and I threw myself into it and every year I enjoy Christmas like it's the last one I'll have because it only comes around once a year,' Daphne explained, leaning into Harry and hugging him.

'Do you know what age I was when I got my first Christmas present?' Harry asked Daphne, who shook her head.

'I suppose I got one for my first Christmas, before my parents died, but I don't remember it. So, excluding that time I got my first Christmas present when I was 11 years old.'

'Really?' Daphne asked, surprised by this news.

'You know all about the Muggles I lived with,' Harry said, 'they used to give their son piles of presents every year, but I never got anything. They used to sit and watch television and phone their family members and friends while I slaved all day in the kitchen cooking their Christmas dinner and after all that hard work, I didn't even get a proper meal. I got the odd potatoes that were burnt and the bits of turkey that were too chewy or had too much fat on them, or didn't look right. Then they had a huge trifle after, enough to feed 6, but they ate it all, I didn't ever get offered a tiny portion.'

'Is that why you don't like Christmas?' Daphne asked, feeling sorry for her boyfriend.

Harry nodded, 'It did get better when I came to Hogwarts and don't get me wrong, I do enjoy Christmas day, but this year especially I can't wait for New Year. I've always preferred celebrating the day the old year dies and the new one starts with so many fresh starts and new possibilities, over the day that some incredible magical wizard called Jesus died.'

Daphne smiled, leaning over and kissing him, 'I'm sorry.'

'So am I,' Harry said, kissing Daphne again and hugging her.

They held each other closely and agreed never to argue again.

But all arguments and disagreements were soon forgotten as the Yule Ball loomed ever closer...

_**TBC**_


	30. The Yule Ball

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 30 – The Yule Ball**

It was Christmas Eve and Hogwarts looked beautiful, both inside and out. The grounds were covered in fluffy new snow which had just fallen the night before, the mountains in the background were pure white and the sky was wintery bright. Inside the castle there were several large Christmas trees covered in baubles and fake snow, the halls were freezing but the air was alive with Christmas spirit and excitement.

Several people were staying for the Yule Ball this year so the Hogwarts Express was leaving at 12.30 that night, meaning that it would be an overnight train and it would arrive in London in the early hours of the morning on Christmas day. That meant everyone got to spend Christmas day with their families. It had taken a while but Harry had finally decided what to do for Christmas, he, along with Draco, Daphne, Hermione, Neville, Hannah and Susan would go to the newly refurbished Grimmauld Place for a meal. Harry was slightly nervous because also invited to this meal were Hermione's parents, Daphne's Mother and Sister and Draco's Mother, as well as Andromeda and Teddy. He had already told Kreacher of the plans and the elf was excitedly awaiting their arrival.

Being 8th years who didn't obey the rules much they didn't intend on spending the whole night on the Hogwarts Express. Instead they were going to apparate straight from the ball to Grimmauld place where they could sleep in real beds. The day of the ball ended up being very similar to the day of the Halloween ball. They all had a long lie then a Christmassy brunch and after that the girls asked nicely if they could use Harry and Draco's dorm to get ready, then they vanished. Harry, Draco, Neville, Theo and Dean were at a loss of what to do for the next few hours because it was only going to take them half an hour to put their dress robes on and sort their hair, well if Harry tried to flatten his out it could take forever.

'Why don't we have a snowball fight?' Harry asked, and the others agreed, just because they were bored and wanted something to do. So they all geared up and headed outside to a part of the grounds with lots of fresh snow. It started out fairly Muggle, just making snowballs and throwing them at each other, but after 30 minutes it was very much a wizard's snowball fight. Harry had 'built' a large tower shaped fort out of snow, complete with cannons which were occasionally sending out huge snowballs in all directions. Not to be outdone by the Gryffindor Draco was sitting on an icy throne in his own snow palace while cannons magically shot out snowballs for him. Only Harry really understood Dean who had given himself a snow machine gun which was rapidly shooting smaller snowballs at everyone. Neville and Theo, not wanting to be left out had formed their own snow creations. Neville had built himself a snow tank, Harry knew he'd been raised by a Witch so he had no idea how he knew about tanks but it was effective, he was shooting everyone and trying to run them over at the same time. Theo had tried to outdo Harry's fort and Draco's palace by building himself a snow watchtower with cannons _and _machine guns, even though he didn't know what a machine gun was until Dean told him. He was much higher than them so his aim was better and in the end he won after he'd demolished Harry's fort, Draco's palace and Neville's tank, Dean had long been knocked out by two large snow cannonballs. With the game over they had shaken hands, made their way back into the castle and showered.

They still had some time to kill but Harry and Draco couldn't get into their room so they all ended up hanging out in the room that Neville, Theo and Dean shared with Ernie and Justin. The two resident Hufflepuff lovebirds were away for a 'pre-ball' bath in the prefect's bathroom so they had the room to themselves. Harry quickly made himself at home by falling onto Neville's bed with a groan, 'I can't believe McGonagall wants us to open the ball with a dance, I thought I'd never have to do that again after 4th year.'

'Whats the problem?' Dean asked from where he was lounging on his own bed, 'you can dance; you did it at the last Yule Ball.'

Draco snorted, 'He can't dance, he's a train wreck. Did you _see _him at the Yule Ball?'

Harry didn't bother getting offended because he knew it was true, 'See! I was terrible! I was stepping on Parvati's feet and making a right idiot of myself.'

'Why did you go with Parvati?' Theo asked, curiously and randomly.

Harry frowned, that had come out of the blue, 'Um, because I couldn't find anyone else to go with and I needed someone to dance with.'

'Wow Potter, you're such a romantic,' Draco teased from where he was precariously leaning on the edge of Ernie's bed, looking at it with some disdain.

Harry groaned, putting his hands over his face, 'Ugh, what am I going to do!' he wailed, 'I can't believe she only told us this yesterday.'

Only the day before McGonagall had told Harry, Hermione and Neville that as war heroes they, along with Ginny, would be opening the ball with a dance, just like the champions had at the last Yule Ball. Hermione could dance and so could Draco, so they weren't particularly bothered. Neville and Hannah could dance well so there were no issues there and Harry knew that Ginny was a good enough dancer to cover it up if Michael was terrible. The issue here was with Harry.

'How's Daphne when it comes to dancing?' Harry asked absentmindedly.

Theo and Draco shared an amused look; Harry knew that was never a good sign.

'Well,' Theo began.

'She's a pureblood,'

'Who was brought up to be the perfect woman,'

'So that she could be presented to a man suitable for her,'

'This means she went to etiquette school before Hogwarts,'

'Where they teach you how to hold a knife and fork properly,'

'And how to curtsey right,'

'And how to speak when speaking to men,'

'And how to dance like a true lady.'

Harry grabbed Neville's pillow and put it over his face, 'I am _so _fucked!'

Neville chuckled in amusement at Harry's despair and lifted the pillow from his face, 'First of all, stop getting your drool on my pillow,'

'Hey, you could sell that now!' Theo commented and Dean laughed loudly, cottoning on, 'You'd get millions for a pillow with the saliva of the precious boy who lived!'

Harry glared at them both, 'Shut up you two, now Neville, whats second?'

'We can teach you how to dance,' Neville said, looking around the group of friends.

'I can't,' Dean said, raising his hands, 'I don't dance man.'

Theo shook his head, 'I dance but I'm not teaching you.'

'Draco and I will teach you then,' Neville said, and Draco opened his mouth to say that hell no, he wasn't dancing with Potter but instead what came out was, 'I suppose.'

He cursed his own brain for defying him like that and sighed as Harry grinned, 'Great! Where do we start?'

Dean and Theo shared a grin as Neville put some music on. They had a feeling this was going to be fun to watch.

'Draco, you're the woman,' Neville said once he'd got both Harry and Draco to stand facing each other in the middle of the room.

Dean and Theo giggled in the background, 'What! Why?'

Neville rolled his eyes, 'Because Harry needs to learn how to dance with a woman, not a man.'

'But _I _am a man!'

'So pretend to be a woman,' Neville said simply, 'shouldn't be too hard for you,' he teased, getting more giggles from the Gryffindor and the Slytherin watching the scene.

'Can't believe you're making me do this fatbottom,' Draco mumbled as he cautiously took a step closer to Harry.

'Okay, that's not original at all, and I'm the same weight as you now Draco,' Neville told the Slytherin, slightly exasperated.

'Don't give me that look Neville,' Draco warned and Neville frowned, 'Uh, what look?'

'That one!' Draco said, glaring at the Gryffindor, 'the exasperated look, I get that _all the time _from Hermione.'

'Why does that not surprise me?' Harry asked himself in a whisper.

'Oi shut up pothead.'

'Wow Draco, your insults are so imaginative today,' Harry said sarcastically, getting glared at by the Slytherin.

'Ladies! Stop flirting and dance please,' Neville said, grinning as both boys blushed and muttered that they weren't flirting.

'All right,' Neville said, 'Harry place right hand on Draco's waist.'

Harry made a face as he stepped forward and put his hand on Draco's waist. There was a wolf whistle from behind them and in unison they yelled, 'Shut up Theo!'

'Draco, put your left hand on Harry's shoulder,' Neville ordered and Draco did so, but both boys were keeping as far apart as they could. Neville rolled his eyes at his two friends and said, 'Harry put your left hand in Draco's right hand.'

'I'm not holding hands with that slimy git!'

'I'm not holding hands with scarhead!'

'OI!'

'Children, please,' Dean teased from his spot on his bed, watching them with extreme amusement.

'It's just a dance Draco,' Theo said with a wink, 'we all know that's nothing compared to what you do to him in your fantasies.'

Draco's cheeks turned a faint pink as he said, 'Please Theo, you disgust me.'

'Just get on with it,' Neville said, trying to conceal his smile.

'When did he get so assertive?' Draco asked, narrowing his eyes at Neville.

'Since he reformed an army, took on an evil regime and killed a giant snake which turned out to be a horcrux,' Dean said, as if this was something casual and no big deal at all.

Theo grinned and winked once more at his friend, 'Why? Does it turn you on?'

'No Theo, it does not,' Draco drawled, glaring at his friend and then turning back to Harry, 'let's just get this over with.'

'You need to stand closer together,' Neville said, pushing Harry with one hand and Draco with the other until they were standing extremely close together. Their feet were touching, their chests were inches apart and as they were around the same height their lips were particularly close to each others.

'This...is, um, slightly awkward,' Harry said, trying not to look at Draco who was doing the exact same thing, 'Yeah, just a bit.'

Dean had taken out his wizarding camera and was snapping pictures silently, 'how much do you think I'd get if I sold these to the prophet?' he asked in a whisper.

Theo grinned, 'About 1000 galleons I reckon. What do you say we half the profit?' Dean nodded and making sure the pair weren't looking shook the Slytherins hand, 'Deal,' he said, with a wink.

'Draco, you know how to dance, don't you?' Neville asked, offending the Slytherin prince.

'Of course I know how to dance Longbottom,' Draco said, with an eye roll. He then took charge.

'Alright Potter. Take two steps back then two steps forward then two to the left and two to the right.'

The only part Harry remembered was two so he ended up stepping on Draco's feet every couple of seconds. There was a lot of cursing and a lot of laughing from the other 3 boys in the room, but Neville wouldn't let them give up and it paid off.

After an hour of dancing and prancing around the room they finally had it, and they decided to give the whole dance a go at full speed. Draco and Harry elegantly swept around the room and when they had done the last step Harry whooped. Draco then did something that the others promised to never let him, or Harry, live down. He dipped Harry in a very romantic way and then the two of them stayed like that for a few very awkward seconds. The boys loved it and chanted, 'KISS! KISS! KISS!'

At that point Draco promptly dropped Harry and they all decided now would be a good time to start getting ready.

Dean and Theo shared mischievous looks as Dean stashed the camera with the pictures on it under his bed. It looked like they had a windfall in the future.

* * *

><p>Now, here they were 10 minutes later, once again waiting in the common room for their girlfriends to emerge down the staircase looking like princesses.<p>

Daphne came down first, in the beautiful blue dress she'd chosen. Just as she'd said it would her mask matched perfectly. She wasn't wearing make-up, and her hair was left down and straight. Harry kissed her, 'You look beautiful,' he said, with a genuine smile.

Daphne grinned, eyeing Harry's blue dress robes and mask, 'You look extremely charming,' Harry winked in response.

When Hermione came down the stairs Draco's breath caught a little even though he'd already seen the light blue dress. She looked very similar to Daphne; Harry would be lying if he said he hadn't noticed the resemblances. Hermione was slightly shorter and her hair was naturally bushy, but today her hair had been straightened and left down, her mask, like Daphne's looked fantastic with her outfit and they looked like sisters.

'Looking even more gorgeous than usual,' Draco said, kissing Hermione and holding his arm out to her. Hermione grinned, 'You look like a Slytherin prince in those robes,' she teased, as she took his silver clad arm. Only Draco could pull off silver dress robes.

Next to join them was Sadie who looked fantastic in her classical style dress and mask. She'd put her hair up and curled it slightly, like Hermione's had been at the Yule Ball in their 4th year. When she reached the bottom of the stairs Theo bowed deeply to her and offered her his arm, 'M'lady,' he said with a cheeky grin. Sadie laughed and took his arm, 'Why thank you Mr Nott,' she said in an old fashioned posh English accent, causing the others to chuckle. Theo looked extremely grand and king-like in his gold robes and when Sadie commented on it he winked at Draco and said, 'You know, I don't like to be outdone by anyone.'

Draco rolled his eyes, a bit miffed that Theo had stolen his idea, but they both pulled off their wacky dress robes. Harry had complained that they got to wear cool robes while he had to look like a Beauxbatons sissy.

Hannah was the next down the stairs in her pale yellow and silver dress and her stunning gold mask. Her naturally wavy hair had been curled and left down so that the gold strands from her mask looked like beads in her hair. Neville smiled at her when she reached him and took his arm, 'Looking amazing as always,' he said to her, making her blush.

'You look great,' she said, her eyes darting from his new black and silver robes to his black and silver matching mask, 'Very enchanting.'

Neville winked, 'I try.'

Lastly Tracey descended the stairs in her short black dress with the gold and silver sequins. She looked as good as she had when she tried it on in the shop. Her matching mask was black and in the centre at the top there was a swan with a gold beak. Two feathers came out of either side of the mask as it came up to meet at the top in the centre with silver beads. It was elaborate and fancy, like Tracey.

'I swear you get prettier every day,' Dean remarked as his girlfriend took his arm and grinned mischievously at him.

'I'm not telling you my secret,' she joked with a wink, adding, 'and you don't look half bad yourself.' Dean, like Neville, was only wearing black robes, but the fastenings were gold and his mask was a glittery gold.

'Are we ready?' Draco asked, on behalf of the group, and when the reply was a resounding 'yes' from all present the group began to make their way down to the entrance hall.

'How are you feeling about the dance?' Daphne asked Harry, not understanding why Neville, Dean and Theo had to hold back sniggers at this comment, or why Harry and Draco glared at them for the comment.

'Fine actually,' Harry said, deciding to tell Daphne the truth, 'Draco and Neville taught me earlier.'

'Well, Neville told you what to do,' Dean said, 'Draco physically taught you,' he winked at Harry and Daphne burst out laughing, 'you two danced together? Seriously?'

Harry and Draco both blushed and looked shameful as they nodded causing a new bout of laughter around the group which echoed around the grand staircase.

For the rest of the 10 minute trek to entrance hall Harry and Draco got teased and mocked senselessly by the others. They both made a mental note to get Dean and Theo back for this later. Neville had only tried to help; the other two were exposing them. Although in the end they had to admit that there was a funny side to it and if it had been anyone else they'd have laughed and mocked them too.

GGG.

When they reached the hall it was packed with excited students and McGonagall ushered Harry, Daphne, Hermione, Draco, Neville, Hannah, Ginny and Michael to the large doors leading into the great hall. She briskly put them in position so that on one side stood Harry with Daphne next to him and across from them stood Hermione with Draco next to her. Likewise next to Harry and Daphne stood Neville with Hannah by his side and across from them stood Ginny with Michael by her side. The only person in the group of 8 who looked at all nervous was Harry.

The doors to the hall slowly opened and all of the students filed in, smiling and wishing luck to the war heroes as they passed. Daphne held her head down and Harry thought he knew why. She didn't think she deserved this position of honour, she'd been at Hogwarts the year before, but she hadn't fought, she'd just got on with it, she hadn't helped anyone or done what was right like the others had. Harry noticed that across from him Draco was similarly staring at the ground, after all he'd done in the war he knew he didn't deserve to be standing here with the war heroes, but Hermione squeezed his hand and told him he was there as her date, not as a war hero.

Once all of the students were lined up in the hall McGonagall motioned for the 'heroes' to make their way into the hall. Harry was first, Hermione second, Neville third and Ginny fourth. They walked down the hall, smiling at everyone and getting applauded and then when they reached the dance floor the music started and Harry took a deep breath and placed one hand on Daphne's waist and the other in her hand. She smiled encouragingly at him and then they started to dance. Daphne didn't say anything but Harry could tell she was impressed, both with the way he danced and the fact he got the timing perfect.

Truthfully when it ended he couldn't have been happier. Other couples made their way onto the floor and the focus was off of him. He breathed a sigh of relief and slowed down a little.

Daphne grinned broadly at him, 'That was amazing, _you _were amazing!'

Harry happily smiled at his girlfriend, glad he hadn't made a complete fool of himself like he'd thought he would earlier. He shot Draco and Neville a grin, he was really grateful to have such amazing friends. As the first dance finished everyone made their way off the floor to get drinks and as they stood in line to the non-alcoholic punch bowl it became a game trying to guess who everyone was through their masks.

Daphne quickly recognised Astoria in a long white dress and a white and black mask. She smiled and hugged her sister, telling her she looked fantastic. Astoria's date was Dennis Creevey and Harry seriously suspected that he was her boyfriend; apparently Daphne did too, from the look she gave the boy when he walked over to her with her sister. Dennis was wearing white robes and a silver mask.

They spotted Blaise easily enough too who looked dark and broody in black dress robes and a black gothic style mask. He'd stirred up a bit of trouble by turning up with his mistress, Megan, who was wearing a baby pink floor length ballgown dress and a matching pink mask, she probably thought she looked like a princess but Daphne and Tracey thought she looked trashy.

Luna and Colin were the next couple to be recognised. Partly due to the fact Colin was wearing robes that were silver on one side and gold on the other and partly because he was wearing a black mask with a gold sun on one eyehole and a silver moon on the other. For once, it wasn't Luna who caught their eye, but she looked more beautiful than Harry had ever seen her. She was wearing a strapless silver ballgown which was fitting to her figure and was subtle, but beautiful. Luna's matching silver mask was decorated with silver glitter, a multicoloured beaded outline and a silver flower on the right hand side of the mask.

Justin and Ernie had gone to extremes, which didn't surprise anyone at all. Ernie was dressed in bright red dress robes which a very over the top mask. It was red and covered in sequins with huge feathers coming out of the top and big feather outline around the whole thing. Next to him Justin was wearing bright green dress robes and a white mask which again was covered in sequins and had two huge green feathers coming out of it as well as white feathers around the whole mask. The group got on well with Ernie and Justin, but even they had to shake their head at their chosen outfits. Gabrielle had come to ball with Terry who was wearing dark blue dress robes and a dark blue mask with gold shooting stars and planets on it. Gabrielle looked perfect as usual in a dress which was strapless, floor length and primarily dark blue but it had lots of different colours throughout the skirt and the bust was covered in multi-coloured sequins.

Harry commented briefly to Ginny on how amazing she looked before they made their way into the hall. The redhead was wearing a floor length strapless black dress, it was very tight and figure fitting with a black skirt and a black bust dotted with gold spots. Her matching mask was black with gold outlines around the eyeholes and the edge. It had an elaborate butterfly on the right hand side above the mask and it was enchanted to move its wings as to look real. Next to her Michael wore simple black dress robes and a simple gold mask.

Lavender had come in typical Lavender style wearing a ballgown with a pink tutu like skirt and a purple sequined top; she wore a matching pink mask. The funny thing was that somehow she'd managed to get Seamus to wear a pink mask along with his black robes and he looked ridiculous. Mandy was wearing a plain, boring pink dress and a pink mask and was hovering at the edge of the room; she wasn't exactly a social butterfly.

Susan was fluttering around the room in her sexy dress flirting with any single man she could find and the Patil twins had come in pretty much identical dresses, as usual. Padma was wearing a purple dress which was strapless and floor-length with a silk skirt and a sequined silver bust. Her mask was purple with silver edges and purple feathers. Parvati's dress was exactly the same in style but it was pink, and not purple. Her mask was the same as Daphne's only it was half pink and half white rather than half blue and half white. Poliakoff was hovering around near Parvati wearing black dress robes and a silver mask.

Tessie and Isabelle arrived together. Tessie's dress was red and strapless, it stopped mid thigh and had a band around the waist with a silver jewel on it. Coming from that band were silk drapes that came down to her feet. Her mask was simple; it was the same colour of red as her dress with silver outlines around the eyeholes and the edge of the mask. Isabelle was wearing a floor length sequined purple dress with straps that criss-crossed at the back which was very open. With it she was wearing a simple purple sequined mask with a white feather at the right side that had a purple feather coming out of it. But by far, the most boring of the night, was Zacharias Smith who simply wore black dress robes with black fastenings and a black cotton eye mask, no effort whatsoever.

Their attention didn't stay on the outfits for long however, because they had a plan. The teachers had a special table with their own punch bowl because _they _got the alcoholic kind. The others didn't find that fair so Harry threw the invisibility cloak over himself and made his way to the table, spiking the punch with strong firewhiskey. He then went back to the table his friends were sitting at, took off the cloak and pretended nothing was out of the ordinary.

For a while it was an ordinary night. They danced, they laughed, and they had fun. Rita Skeeter was sneaking around taking pictures of the event, and she definitely got front page news when the punch started to take effect. McGonagall was dancing with Kingsley when all of a sudden they started to make out, the students giggled, Rita Skeeter grinned and snapped pictures and Harry needed to excuse himself to go to the bathroom so he didn't wet himself. That was only the start of the fun and games after that it all kicked off.

Harry had a brief moment of awkwardness before the fun could begin though. He had been on his way to the table to get some more punch for Daphne when he crossed paths with the honorary guest of the evening, one Cho Chang, aka his ex-girlfriend who he'd sort of maybe had a little tiny bit of a thing with during the holidays before 8th year.

'Hey Harry,' Cho said, with a friendly smile. She looked amazing in a figure hugging black dress.

Harry smiled, 'Oh hey Cho, how are you finding tonight?'

'The memories are flooding back,' Cho admitted, looking around the hall which was decorated with snow laden Christmas trees and snowflakes and fake icicles, just like it had been the first time. Harry nodded, 'I can imagine.'

'It's getting better now though,' Cho admitted, 'it's getting bearable.'

Harry smiled genuinely at her, 'I'm glad,' he said, asking, 'I hear you've kind of dropped out of the wizarding world.'

Cho shrugged, 'I've been at Muggle University, I'm studying History actually, and it's interesting to get a Muggle take on it all.'

'What university are you at?'

'Exeter,' Cho replied, smiling, 'I love it there, it's so far away from home in Scotland, but I like the independence.'

'I can't say I really know the feeling,' Harry said wryly, handing her a glass of punch, 'I'm pretty sure my cousin goes to Exeter University though, I think he's studying economics, he wants to make it big in business.'

Cho was nodding as he spoke, 'I work with a lot of economics students, they cross over a lot, history, economics, politics, those kinds of subjects. I don't know anyone with the second name Potter though.'

'Oh he's not got my name; his name is Dursley, Dudley Dursley.'

'Dudley is your cousin?' Cho asked, quite alarmed by this news.

Harry frowned, 'Yeah, you know him?'

Cho nodded, blushing a little, 'I'm sort of dating him, actually.'

Harry gaped at this, Cho, was dating, Dudley. He just couldn't see it. Cho's blush intensified as she handed him a picture. It had obviously been taken on a Muggle camera as it wasn't moving. It was a picture of Cho and Dudley smiling as they sat on a wall with Exeter University in the background. Harry had written to Dudley since the end of the war but he hadn't actually seen his cousin and he couldn't believe how slim he'd gotten in just a year and a half. He smiled when he saw the picture, he was glad they were both happy.

'That's great Cho,' Harry said honestly, 'Maybe you two can come to my New Year's party together? Introduce him to some of your Wizarding friends.'

Cho's face fell and Harry realised, 'Oh...he doesn't know you're a...'

He trailed off and Cho nodded, Harry sighed, 'Well he's alright with me being one, even though his Father hated it. He doesn't talk to him anymore though, does he?'

Cho shook her head, 'No, he's moved to London, and Dudley lives in Exeter now, on campus. It's just his Mum back in Surrey.'

'You should probably tell him. He's changed, but he used to be a pretty bad person and after everything that happened...i had nightmares about Cedric and I talked in my sleep. He teased me for it, you'll need to explain, about it all,' Harry sucked at giving advice but Cho smiled gratefully and thanked him.

Harry was about to say it was no problem when someone walked up behind him, 'How long does it take to get a girl a glass of punch?'

Harry chuckled at the girl, 'I'm sorry baby, I got caught up in a conversation,' he turned back to Cho, 'Cho, this is my girlfriend Daphne Greengrass,' he then turned to Daphne, 'Daph, this is my...friend, Cho Chang.'

Daphne nodded, 'The infamous Cho Chang who broke your heart?'

Harry blushed, 'Thanks for mentioning that,' he muttered as Cho and Daphne chuckled, 'Nice to meet you Cho.'

Cho smiled, 'You too Daphne,' she said, then she excused herself and Harry got Daphne her drink, 'ready for some more dancing?' she asked as she dragged him onto the dance floor.

* * *

><p>As honorary guests Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum had been invited to the Yule Ball. Fleur was heavily pregnant and had given her sister a telling off for what she'd done to Harry. As a result of Fleur being at the ball Bill was there too, and the couple danced into the night, pregnant or not Fleur still liked to have a good time.<p>

Viktor Krum, over the years had gotten softer and less grumpy. He scanned the ball for any single ladies to talk too or dance with and found only one that caught his eye. She was leaning against the wall by the food table, watching the couples dancing when he walked over to her.

'Hello beautiful lady.'

Susan Bones raised an eyebrow at the pro Quidditch player, 'Hi,' she said simply.

'You are by far the most attractive woman at this event,' Viktor flirted making Susan laugh, 'you flatter me, but no I will not sleep with you.'

Viktor frowned, 'I was going to ask you to dance with me, not sleep with me.'

'I don't date with Quidditch players,' Susan said, walking away towards the drinks table. She left Krum standing in her wake in complete shock; no one had ever refused him before. He hurried after her, and she turned around in amusement, 'are you stalking me?'

'Why do you not date Quidditch players?'

'Because they're intimidated by the fact I'm better than them,' Susan said simply, drinking from her glass of punch.

'You play Quidditch?' Viktor asked, surprised by this.

Susan nodded but said no more causing Viktor to ask, 'In what position do you play?'

'I'm a beater,' Susan said, surveying him for disgust. Instead he seemed impressed, 'A female beater?'

Susan nodded, 'Does it turn you off?'

Viktor shook his head, eyeing her with sparkling eyes, 'Not at all, in fact, it turns me on.'

'Really?' Susan asked, raising her eyebrow at the Bulgarian man.

Viktor nodded, 'But as you already said you won't sleep with me I suppose it is redundant,' he smiled, 'so, do you care to dance?'

Susan's facade broke and she smiled, 'Fine, one dance,' she agreed, taking his hand and making her way onto the floor with him.

They ended up dancing all night.

* * *

><p>The night was coming to an end when Poliakoff put a sonorous charm on himself and stood up on a magical stage in the middle of the dance floor. He smiled at the crowd and said, 'Sorry to interrupt the dancing guys, but I'd like to ask Parvati a very important question.'<p>

Parvati gaped in shock at her boyfriend as he said, 'I know its only been a few months but I did meet you 4 years ago to this day, at an event exactly like this one and I knew then I loved you, but I let you get away. It only seems fitting that this time, I make sure you stay.'

Poliakoff jumped from the stage and pulled a ring from the pocket of his dress robes. He knelt down on one knee and looked into Parvati's eyes, 'Parvati Patil, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?'

Parvati was crying as she said, 'Yes,' and let Poliakoff slip the ring on her finger. He stood up and grinned happily at her as she smiled through her tears of joy. The whole crowd applauded as they kissed and Rita Skeeter almost had a heart attack at the amount of gossip she was getting from this ball, this ball that she wasn't even supposed to be at.

Daphne put her head on Harry's shoulder from where they sat watching the scene and smiled, 'Isn't true love sweet?'

Harry turned to her and jokingly said, 'Oi, you saying you don't love me?'

At that point he awkwardly realised that he and Daphne had never actually said those 3 words to each other. Harry felt it but he'd been too afraid to say it in case he scared her off and he assumed Daphne just wasn't ready to say it yet.

So, naturally, Harry was surprised when Daphne smiled, looked him right in the eye and said, 'Of course I love you.'

Harry could only stare at her in amazement for a moment before he eventually came back to his senses and grinned, 'I love you too Daphne,' he admitted, kissing her and not being able to remember the last time he felt so ecstatically happy. She grinned and dragged him over to where the others were all slow dancing around Parvati and Poliakoff. It was the last dance of the night and nobody really wanted it to end, they'd all had such a great time, but inevitably, the song finished and the students were told to go to bed.

Most of them listened, but since when had Harry Potter ever done what he was told? He snuck out of the hall, throwing the cloak over himself, Daphne and Hannah. The others all used disillusionment charms on themselves and they made their way through the bustling throng, snuck out through the great oak doors which were barely open, made their way through the empty, cold grounds and then got to the gate. There they used Accio to summon their already packed cases, and once they were through the gates they apparated to the steps of Grimmauld place. After the ball everybody was exhausted so they got in and Harry showed everyone to their rooms. Draco and Hermione were in the double bedroom on the 1st floor with their own bathroom. Neville and Hannah also had their own bathroom and were in the double bedroom on the 2nd floor. Susan, who was staying with them because she didn't have any family left either, was in the single bedroom on the 3rd floor and shared a bathroom with Daphne and Harry who were in the Master bedroom. The lights went off, heads hit pillows and everyone was asleep instantly. Nobody even realised that it was technically Christmas day when they went to sleep, but everyone was definitely excited about it.

**_Tbc_**


	31. Merry Christmas

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 31 – Merry Christmas**

Harry had assumed, since they'd had such a busy night before that they would get a bit of a lie in on Christmas morning, they didn't have guests arriving until 1pm, after all.

However, Harry had forgotten how excited his girlfriend got for Christmas and as a result he was woken up at 8am. Daphne didn't just wake him up though, she woke him up by jumping up and down on their double bed, in her silky green pyjamas shouting, 'Wake up! Wake up! It's Christmas!'

Harry grinned as he opened his eyes and saw her; he thought it was adorable how much she loved Christmas. When she saw he was awake she grinned, 'Come on! Let's go downstairs, everyone's waiting to open their presents!'

Harry chuckled as he stumbled out of bed and pulled on a pair of maroon pyjama bottoms. He then let Daphne drag him down two floors to the drawing room. It had undergone a transformation since he'd last seen it. There was mistletoe around the walls and a huge Christmas tree in the centre that nearly touched the roof, which was impressive because the ceiling was high and took up not only the 1st floor, but went up to the 2nd floor too.

Underneath the tree were all their presents, already placed there by Kreacher, Harry assumed. He smiled around at his friends as Daphne dragged him over and pushed him onto the sofa next to Draco who also looked half asleep and half naked considering all he was wearing were his boxers, and they had snakes on them, Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Kreacher appeared, with a crack that startled them all, and handed out plates of toast with butter and jam to everyone, as well as pouring them out tea and coffee. Draco and Harry savoured the coffee; neither of them were used to early mornings, despite being Quidditch players.

'Okay,' Daphne said happily, sitting down by the tree and taking it upon herself to hand out the presents to everyone. She started with parcels all wrapped in the same purple wrapping. She passed one to Harry, one to Neville and Hannah, one to Draco and Hermione and one to Susan and said, 'These are from Sadie and Theo.'

Harry and Daphne took an end each and ripped the paper off the parcel. Harry grinned; there were three things in the parcel. He could tell that Theo had picked his present, it was a scarlet hooded top with Hogwarts written at the top and Quidditch at the bottom. In the middle there were two wands crossed over with a snitch over them and it said 'team captain.' He glanced over at Draco and saw that he had the same present but his was a dark green. For Daphne, there was a golden bracelet engraved with a quote from none other than Albus Dumbledore. It read, 'Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.' There was also a box of chocolate frogs to share between them.

Neville and Hannah had both gotten individual presents from Sadie and Theo, as well as a box of chocolate frogs. Neville had gotten a small jar of gillyweed on a necklace. He gasped and said it was the extremely rare kind and that it was on a necklace so it wouldn't get stolen. Apparently this kind of gillyweed could be sold for thousands of galleons and was only found in the Aegean Sea. Neville commented on this and Draco whispered to Hermione, 'Theo has a house in Crete; his family practically farms the stuff. How do you think he's so rich?'

Hermione hid a small smile at this fact, but regardless of how much Theo had in abundance the small amount of the rare plant pleased Neville immensely. Hannah had gotten a bracelet, like Daphne's, but the quote was different. It read, 'Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.'

Finally Draco got a hooded top similar to Harry's, and Hermione received a bracelet like the other girls. Hers was another Dumbledore quote and it read, 'It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.' She smiled and put it on, like the other girls had. Like everyone else they got a shared box of chocolate frogs too. They all made a mental note to thank Sadie and Theo who were spending Christmas with their families.

The couple had gotten something for Susan too, a box of chocolate frogs and she had a bracelet that was engraved with the words, 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good,' made famous as the Weasleys new slogan for their joke shop. Susan chuckled, it was perfect for her.

Next Daphne handed out the presents from her and Harry to everyone. Neville and Hannah opened their parcel first. For Neville there was a small vial filled with sparkling white liquid that wasn't even really liquid, it was more like fog. It said 'memories' on the front and Neville frowned, not really understanding what it was.

'It's the memory of your parents wedding,' Harry explained to Neville, who got a bit teary, 'you need a pensieve to view it, but I thought this way you could carry it around with you.'

Neville nodded, trying to conceal his emotion, 'Thanks Harry,' he said shakily, 'how did you get it?'

Harry smiled, 'I got it from Trelawney. Her and my Mum were your Mums bridesmaids.'

Neville smiled, holding the vial tightly, he thanked Harry again. For Hannah they'd gotten a bracelet, similar to the ones that Sadie and Theo had bought everyone. Hannah's read, 'For Hufflepuff, hard workers were most worthy of admission.' Like the others they'd gotten sweets for the couple to share, but rather than chocolate frogs they'd gotten everyone a box of Bertie Botts every flavour beans.

Draco and Hermione also got a box of beans, and Hermione got a bracelet, hers said, 'For Gryffindor, the bravest were prized far beyond the rest.' Draco had gotten a small vial of Felix Felicis on a chain and he grinned and thanked them, he knew it was probably the work of Daphne because he had firsthand experience of how bad Harry was at potions.

For Susan they'd gotten a box of Bertie Botts beans and a Divination themed necklace. It had a small real crystal ball on it, with the white smoke swirling around inside it.

Next came the gifts from Neville and Hannah. Each couple got a large parcel and Susan got a smaller one. Harry and Daphne were both pleased with their presents. Harry got a t-shirt; it was Gryffindor red and had the DA symbol at the top with the words 'Dumbledore's Army' written underneath it. Hermione got a similar top in the same colour and Susan got a yellow one. Neville and Hannah said they'd bought their own tops too, and they'd sent one to Ron as a Christmas present. Harry thought it was a very cool idea. Daphne's present was alive, it was a tiny blue pygmy puff in a small cage, it was dying to get out and when Daphne let it the cute little thing began to bounce around and squeak, it was adorable. Draco had gotten a silver ring with a black front that had the Hogwarts crest and logo stamped onto it in silver. Everyone had also gotten a large bottle of butterbeer.

Hermione insisted that everyone open their presents from her and Draco next so Daphne passed them out. Neville had gotten a necklace with a miniature remembrall on it and he chuckled, 'The irony, that you got me this,' he remarked to Draco who looked guilty for a moment, 'well I felt guilty for everything that happened with your last one so I got you a new one, plus, it's around your neck so you won't be able to lose it this time.' They all chuckled as Neville thanked his friend for the gift. Hannah had gotten a little yellow pygmy puff.

Harry had gotten a miniature Hungarian Horntail in a miniature cage. It moved around and occasionally blew fire out of its nostrils. Draco assured him, 'the cage is impenetrable so it can't set fire to anything, and you don't have to feed it, we just thought it would be a nice souvenir from the tournament.' Harry thought it was very cool and thanked them. Daphne had gotten a necklace that was a 3D rectangle with 4 sides. On one side it said 'Slytherin', and then the other sides said, 'Ambition,' 'power hungry,' and, 'cunning.'

Susan had also gotten a pygmy puff, but hers was purple. Everyone got a box of sugar quills from the couple too.

The last presents from people spending Christmas at Grimmauld place were from Susan. She got Hermione a necklace with a small time turner on it, saying it was a little bit illegal but it only turned back time to a maximum of 5 minutes anyway. Daphne got a bracelet with the quote, 'You have nothing to fear, if you have nothing to hide.' The wise words of Albus Dumbledore once more. These sorts of things were in fashion now that the war was over. Hannah got a small bottle of Herbology themed perfume and Draco, Harry and Neville all got a goody bag from Weasleys Wizard Wheezes full of pranks.

The presents left under the tree now were from people who, like Sadie and Theo, were spending Christmas elsewhere. Everyone got handed a parcel from Dean and Tracey. Hermione got a necklace with a miniature fake philosopher's stone on it and Draco got a ring engraved with the word 'Slytherin.' Harry and Neville got similar rings engraved with the word 'Gryffindor.' Daphne got a bracelet shaped like the golden snitch and Hannah got a necklace with a golden snitch pendant. Susan got a small vial of polyjuice potion on a chain and got a mischievous look in her eyes. Dean and Tracey had also given them a large box of 20 butterbeer cupcakes which they decided to share out amongst their guests later.

The couples had all got presents for each other, but these were to be opened in private so they split up. Harry and Daphne stayed where they were in the drawing room, Draco and Hermione went to the opposite side where the tapestry was, and Neville and Hannah went to their bedroom. Susan skipped happily downstairs to bother Kreacher for some more food.

From Daphne, Harry got a pocket watch, a very unique, beautiful antique looking pocket watch. On the front the Hogwarts express was engraved beautifully and once opened the clock face had roman numerals on it. Daphne blushed, 'It was my Great Great Grandfathers,' she explained, 'that's why it says Crouch, not Greengrass, I'm descended from the Crouch's. Anyway, I was supposed to give it to the man I'm going to marry, but I thought I'd give it to you instead.'

'Oi!' Harry said, joking with her as he kissed her and looked at the watch once more, 'It's brilliant Daph, I love it. Thank you.'

Daphne grinned, still blushing a little, but glad that Harry liked the gift. He then handed over a present to Daphne for her to unwrap. Harry had gotten her a locket, a golden locket, with a deer's head elevated on the front. Daphne smiled when she saw it, and then she opened it, inside was a picture of them from the Halloween ball. She grinned, 'I get it, and it's such a clever idea. Although if I hadn't known your patronus was a stag I'd have been confused.' They both laughed as they kissed, both relieved the other had liked their gift.

At the other side of the room Draco had just unwrapped his present from Hermione which was a potions set. She knew he wanted to be an Auror, but she also knew of his love for potions, something she'd discovered was greater than she first thought when he told her had his own potions lab in Malfoy Manor. The set included a brand new golden cauldron and golden scales to match; there were also several ingredients and a full bottle of Veritaserum, and dragon's blood. Draco gaped, 'Hermione...this must have cost so much, it's amazing, thank you!' Hermione grinned as he kissed her; she'd hoped she'd done the right thing. Draco handed her a present and she eagerly ripped it open. He had obviously teamed up with Harry because he had gotten her a locket. It was real silver and was in the shape of a heart with a real red ruby in the centre. Hermione smiled broadly as she opened the little locket and found a picture of herself and Draco at the Halloween Ball. 'It's perfect,' Hermione said, kissing him and putting the necklace carefully back in its box. He'd also given her two rare books from Malfoy Manor, but as he hadn't bought them he'd have felt it cheeky to only give her those as her present.

Upstairs in their bedroom Neville and Hannah were busy opening their gifts for each other too. Neville gave Hannah two presents, a photo frame which had the Gryffindor reds on one side and the Hufflepuff yellows on the other. In the frame was a picture of them from the Halloween ball. His second present was a set, there was a ring with the word 'Hufflepuff' engraved on it, a braided bracelet in yellow and black stripes, earrings with little badgers and a necklace with the Hufflepuff crest. Hannah loved it, as Neville knew she would, being as patriotic to her house as she was. From Hannah, Neville received a new Mimbulus Mimbletonia since his original one died and a unique silver hipflask. It was circular with his name engraved in the centre. Neville appreciated the personal aspect of it and thanked his girlfriend with a kiss.

Once they were all back downstairs again there were only a few stray presents to open. Harry had sent Ron a copy of the Chudley Cannons new book and Ron in return had sent him a skiving snack box and some Peruvian instant darkness powder. He'd even sent Hermione a small box of Bertie Botts every flavour beans. Mrs Weasley had sent them a large box of wizard cookies shaped like broomsticks, snitches and cauldrons and there was also a large parcel for each of them from Mrs Weasley. Once they'd opened the parcels they realised that she'd knitted each of them a Weasley sweater, even Daphne, Draco and Susan. Harry and Hermione's were both scarlet with an H on them, while Draco and Daphne's were both green with a D on them. Neville had a scarlet one with an N, Hannah had a yellow one with an H and Susan also had a yellow one with an S.

Harry read the accompanying note,

'_Dear Harry and Hermione,_

_We would all like to wish you a lovely Christmas. I knitted sweaters for you all and I thought you might like to know why. I will always see you and Hermione as children and for that reason you'll receive sweaters every year for as long as I live. _

_Draco, I know you caused my children a lot of pain over the years but I believe everyone can change and if there was ever a time to do it then it would be after the horrendous war we went through. If Hermione can forgive you after all she was put through by your family then by Merlin of course I can too._

_Daphne, I've never met you and I don't know anything about you apart from the fact that Harry is completely smitten with you, and if you've done enough to win his heart you've definitely done enough to win mine._

_Neville, although I've only met you once I knew your parents and your Grandmother well, and I know you've been with Harry, Ron and Ginny every step of the way and for that I'll be eternally grateful. Hannah, I was very sorry to hear about your parents, your Mother and I were at Hogwarts together and there couldn't have been a nicer woman alive. I'm sorry you won't be spending Christmas with your family. That goes for you too Susan, your Mother was a member of the Order and was truly a very brave Witch, I'm glad you can all spend Christmas together when you don't have family to spend it with._

_I hope you have a lovely holiday, each and every one of you._

_P.S: we are having a family get together on the 2__nd__ of January. You are all invited, but I understand if you have other plans. There will be an afternoon meal served at 4.30pm._

_All our love,_

_Molly, Arthur, Charlie, Bill, Fleur, Percy, George, Ron and Ginny.'_

It was horrible, the end of the letter, seeing all those signatures and not Fred's, it tore Harry's heart a little and he could tell from the look on Hermione's face that she felt the same. But they were all so grateful for what Mrs Weasley had done as they looked once more at the sweaters, it was an honour to receive one of these from Mrs Weasley, it meant you were part of the family now. Hagrid had also sent them a large box of fairy cakes, instead of rock cakes, which was a nice surprise, Harry expected Olympe was behind it.

Harry had sent a large portrait to Hogwarts to be put up before the 8th years arrived back. It was a gift to the whole year. The backdrop was black and the words changed colour, they flashed from red, to green, to blue, to yellow. The words on the portrait read, 'We are only as strong as we are united. As weak as we are divided.' In each corner there was a house crest. Once the 8th years had left Harry intended to give it to McGonagall to be put up next to the house points vials in the great hall.

With all their presents finally opened the group made their way to their separate bedrooms as they realised they only had an hour until the rest of their guests arrived. Harry, Draco and Neville just changed into black robes and went downstairs to have a game of exploding snap in the drawing room while the girls got changed. It didn't happen often because they liked to be individual but Hermione and Daphne had teamed up for today. Hermione hadn't wanted to spend any more money after the Yule Ball dress so Daphne had leant her one of hers. As a result they were wearing the same dress in different colours. Hermione's dress was white mostly with the top and bottom right hand part of the dress being gold and glittery. Daphne's dress was mostly black and the top and bottom right hand part of the dress was silver and glittery. Hermione had teamed hers with relatively sensible gold high heels and Daphne was wearing skyscraper silver heels with hers. Hermione had left her hair naturally curly and Daphne had left hers down and straight so they didn't look too much alike. Hannah was wearing a simple black and cream dress. The skirt was like a black pencil skirt, and the top was cowl neck style and fitted her form perfectly. She'd teamed it with black high heels and had left her naturally wavy hair down but had straightened it. Susan was looking remarkably subtle too in a red and black chequered dress with accompanying red platform high heels. She'd tied her long red hair into a loose bun.

By the time the girls arrived downstairs it was time to greet the guests. So everyone stood by the door, waiting for it to ring. The first people to arrive were the Blacks. Narcissa and Andromeda walked through the door, Andromeda holding the now 7 month old Teddy Lupin. Both women were wearing long black dresses and Teddy was in a cute little Christmas outfit. Narcissa smiled and greeted them all with a handshake, when she reached Draco she kissed him on both cheeks and did the same to Hermione, shocking her and giving Draco a chuckle. Draco led his Mother, Aunt and second cousin to their seats at the large table in the formal dining room.

'This is very modern and sophisticated,' Narcissa remarked, looking around the marble floors and white walls of the room, 'although I don't agree with the gold curtains.'

Andromeda chuckled, 'The boy is a Gryffindor Cissy, what do you expect?' she asked as she placed Teddy in the high chair next to her seat.

'It's definitely an improvement on how it used to be,' Narcissa remarked, looking around the grand room, it had been a horrible house when she was growing up.

'Well anything would have been an improvement on how it used to be,' Andromeda said thoughtfully, adding to Draco, 'Your girlfriend is very pretty by the way Draco.'

'For a Muggle-born I'm surprised by her intelligence and looks,' she got a glare from Draco and sighed, 'I meant it as a complement dear, not an insult.'

'Well her Muggle parents will be here so please try not to be too prejudiced,' Draco said, half exasperated but partly amused with the way his Mother complemented people. The doorbell rang again and Draco made his way back into the hall. He was so nervous about meeting Hermione's parents.

The door opened and two very ordinary people walked in, Hermione's parents. He could see where she got her looks from, her Mother was attractive for her age and had the same brown bushy hair, both of her parents had brown eyes. Hermione hurried over and hugged them then brought them over to Draco, 'Mum, Dad, this is my boyfriend Draco Malfoy.'

Draco bowed to them, as in wizarding culture a pureblood man did and said, 'Very nice to meet you,' then he shook both of their hands. They looked very surprised by this as Hermione led them into the dining room.

'He's very posh dear,' Elizabeth Granger whispered to her daughter who chuckled and sat her parents down across the table from Narcissa, Andromeda and Teddy, 'He's not posh Mum, he's a pureblood. They are the types of Wizarding families who uphold all the old traditions, so he just seems a bit old fashioned to you,' she smiled and introduced her parents to the Blacks and then left them to talk as she joined Draco in the hallway.

The next people through the door were Daphne's Mother and Sister and Harry broke out into a slightly nervous sweat. Astoria was wearing a simple silver and green dress and Daphne's Mother, Lareina, was looking glamorous, just as Daphne said she would, in a short green sequined dress. Lareina walked over to Daphne and kissed her on both cheeks, 'I've missed you my love, have you been well?'

'Very,' Daphne said, smiling happily at her Mother, 'Mother, this is my boyfriend, Harry-'

Lareina interrupted, 'Oh Daphne, he needs no introduction,' she said, shaking her head and taking Harry's hand, 'my Slytherin bred daughter dating the boy who lived,' she joked, 'I nearly had a heart attack when I heard the news.'

Harry chuckled and shook her hand, 'It's nice to meet you Mrs. Greengrass.'

'Lareina,' she corrected, 'I'm a widow and Mrs Greengrass makes me sound so old.'

Daphne caught Astoria's eye and they both rolled their eyes as they walked into the dining room. Once Daphne had seated her Mother and Sister next to the Blacks, with a gap in between for Draco, she made her way back into the hall.

'Who else are we waiting for?' Neville asked, frowning.

Harry only smiled, 'There are two more people to come,' he explained.

Nobody knew what he meant, he had kept this a secret to himself for months, too afraid to get anyone's hopes up and have them be shattered. They waited in silence for a few minutes and then the doorbell rang once more. As the host Harry answered the door and the colour drained from Neville's face when he saw his parents walk in, looking perfectly healthy and smiling. They were slightly skinnier than they should have been, but they had colour in their faces and life in their eyes and they were smiling broadly at Neville. Everyone else in the corridor was just as shocked as Neville as they stared at Frank and Alice.

'Oh my baby,' Alice said quietly, as she walked over to her stunned son, 'you've grown so much,' she said, sadly, as she traced her hand over his face. Frank walked over to his son too, placing a hand on his shoulder, 'I've missed so much son, I'm sorry.'

'Come on,' Harry said to the others, 'let's give them some time to talk.' The others agreed that this was a good idea so they made their way into the dining room and took their seats. Harry said to Neville, 'You can talk in the library if you'd like,' then he too walked into the dining room to let Neville be re-united with his family.

* * *

><p>'Mum...Dad...' Neville said slowly, looking between the smiling faces of his parents.<p>

'We should sit down somewhere,' Frank suggested and Neville nodded numbly as he led them into the library. Once they were all seated his parents started to explain.

'That boy, Harry, we were very close with his parents, from what we've heard he was the one who funded the clinical trial that cured us.'

'I thought it was impossible...' Neville said, still in complete disbelief, he still felt like he was dreaming.

'It should have been,' Alice said, 'but something changed, they found a way and they used us as subjects in the trial. Your Grandmother agreed to it, before she sadly passed away.'

Frank added, 'Your friend Harry, he didn't want to tell you in case it ended badly. He didn't want to get your hopes up only for you to be disappointed.'

Neville understood that, but what he didn't understand was how they had been cured, 'How?'

Alice looked to her husband, 'I think this is more your subject area honey.'

Frank smiled at his wife and then turned to his son, 'when we were tortured our brains shut down. It's an animalistic type of protection, fight or flight, when you can sense death is near you shut down everything you can to save yourself. Our bodies sensed that we were dying and that the most important parts to be kept alive were our hearts and our brains, so slowly our bodies shut down. By the time they found us the right hand side of our brain had entirely shut down, we were to all intents and purposes half brain dead. Our frontal lobe wasn't entirely gone, but it was damaged so we lost the ability to speak or think in a clear, logical way. As the right side of our brains wasn't working we lost the ability to be imaginative or see the whole picture of a situation, everything was fuzzy in our heads, but we still had all of our memories and our scientific brain was still alive, we just didn't have the ability to think logically enough to use it. The clinical trial we went on was a dose of a potion once every morning and slowly it allowed us to think more clearly, we were monitored as this happened and the more we took the potion the more brain activity rose in the right side of our brains. The potion was originally designed to help motivate students so they could concentrate around exam time but it helped us to focus our brain, something that we hadn't been able to do for a long time. As we took the potion we had to learn to write again, and to speak properly, but all of our thoughts and memories are with us.'

Neville had listened to this story in fascination, but he still didn't understand something, 'But why did it take so long? To find this cure?'

'They had been testing it for years, in the department of mysteries,' Alice informed Neville, 'but it had always been too unstable to use on people with mental issues, like us. Apparently your friend stole a vial during his 5th year when he got into the department and he kept it to see if there was anything he could do. He told us he worked with an old potions master, a man we went to school with, Severus Snape. Together they managed to modify the potion so it could be used on unstable animals, in large doses it killed them, but in small doses it worked, so it was cleared for human trials and Harry suggested to your Grandmother that we be the first in the trial. It was supposed to be random selection but we believe as the hero he is, he may have pulled some strings.'

'This is fantastic, it's unbelievable,' Neville admitted, allowing his parents to envelop him in a hug. He let out some tears as he relished in a feeling he never thought he'd have.

* * *

><p>When the Longbottom family walked into the dining room all conversation stopped and everyone smiled as they took their seats, there were no longer any empty seats at the table. Neville smiled at Hannah and said to his parents, 'Mum, Dad, this is my girlfriend Hannah.'<p>

'It's lovely to meet you Hannah,' Frank said, shaking the Hufflepuffs hand and Alice smiled and shook her hand too. Harry then stood, and made a toast.

'I'd like to make a toast to my friends, most of which are practically my family, for being here to celebrate Christmas day with us. It means a lot that you were all able to come today,' he smiled at Frank and Alice and took his seat.

'Oh, he's like a mini Lily,' Alice whispered to Frank who shook his head, 'He looks more like James.'

'Maybe,' Alice agreed, 'but from what I've heard and seen so far in personality he's his Mother through and through.'

Their starter was served, which was a soup of their choice, and as they settled down to eat conversation popped up.

'So, is it true our boy is a hero?' Frank asked, as casually as he could.

Harry and Hermione grinned at each other, 'Yes,' they replied in unison, making Neville blush.

'From what I've read since I regained the ability to do so,' Frank said, joking about his illness, 'there were horcruxes to destroy before Voldemort himself could be killed, and my son, killed one of them.'

'He did Mr. Longbottom,' Hermione said, 'he saved my life when he sliced the sword of Gryffindor through that snake.'

'I can't believe it,' Alice said proudly, 'my Nev a Gryffindor, the first in the family, and you managed to wield the sword of Gryffindor,' she was swelling with pride and Harry felt she completely had a right too.

Harry noticed that Draco and Daphne's family seemed a bit awkward throughout this conversation and Harry decided to break the ice, 'you may wonder, Mr and Mrs Longbottom, why we are sitting here eating a Christmas meal with the opposition, so to speak. But things have changed since you were tortured, there is a strong need for house unity and as a result of that Slytherins are dating Gryffindors, and Gryffindors are dating Hufflepuffs,' he paused then continued, 'Narcissa, I am sure, was a Malfoy when you knew her, but she is now a Black. Lareina Greengrass is a widow to a man who bullied her all of her life and Narcissa was in a similar situation, these people aren't the enemy, their husbands were the death eaters, _they _were the enemies.'

Lareina and Narcissa still looked ashamed, but Frank and Alice nodded their understanding.

'I understand completely,' Alice said, 'and I'm glad that now things are changing, goodness knows they've needed too for a very long time.'

There were smiles all around at this statement and then there was some more silence as everyone finished their starter, but during the wait between the starter and the main course there was more talking around the table.

'Have you thought about what you are going to do beyond Hogwarts?' Andromeda asked the youngsters curiously, most of them did know what they were going to do so the question didn't make anything awkward.

'Daphne wants to be a healer, don't you Daph?' Lareina said to her daughter.

Daphne, however, shook her head, 'Not anymore Mother. I'd like to do something with Gringotts, curse breaking perhaps.'

Lareina looked appalled by this but Astoria said, 'Cool! I bet that would be loads of fun!'

'I've known for years I want to be an Auror,' Harry said, adding, 'like my Dad and Sirius.'

Neville nodded, 'I want to be an Auror too, and I just need to push up my grade in Transfiguration and Potions.'

Andromeda and Narcissa turned to Draco who came clean about something he'd only ever talked to Harry about, 'I'd like to be an Auror too, I have the grades and Harry said he could pull some strings to clear my name, you can't be an Auror with a criminal record.'

'I think you've done enough good deeds lately to outweigh the bad Draco,' Harry said, smiling at his Slytherin friend.

'We're proud of you son, an Auror just like your Mum and Dad,' Frank said, smiling happily at his son.

'And I think it's fantastic Draco, that you want to become an Auror, I think you'd be the 3rd Slytherin to do so, it's very rare,' Andromeda said, her sister nodded and gave her son a small, rare smile, 'that's always been Draco, very ambitious.'

'I'm not really sure what I want to do yet,' Hermione admitted, a little embarrassed by this, 'I love Transfiguration and I'd like to teach it someday, but I'm not sure what to do straight after Hogwarts.'

'Hannah wants to do something Herbology related, don't you Han?' Neville asked his girlfriend who nodded, 'I'm not sure what yet,' she admitted, smiling at Hermione to let her know she was in the same boat. Susan then said she'd like to be an Auror too, but she wasn't sure if she'd get in because it was harder for women.

Their main course of turkey, roast potatoes, yorkshire puddings, parsnips, brussell sprouts and carrots was served up and everyone tucked in. Christmas pudding was served for dessert and once everyone was sufficiently full they made their way up to the drawing room to drink some brandy and talk amongst themselves. They split into groups at that point, the Slytherins stuck together, with Narcissa staying close by Lareina.

Neville and Hannah stayed with Frank and Alice, learning as much about each other as they could, and Andromeda caught up with them too, she'd be in the Order with Frank and Alice and they'd been fairly close friends.

The kids, for the most part stuck together, Draco, Harry, Daphne and Susan entertained Astoria and kept an eye on Teddy. Hermione was close by with her parents, who eventually had the courage to venture over to Narcissa and Lareina and once they were talking they got on well.

At around 10pm everyone started to leave, to go home and go to bed. Daphne kissed her Mother and Astoria goodbye and said she'd see them soon, as she'd see Astoria back at Hogwarts, and they left the house. Draco and Hermione said goodbye to their parents and they too left. Soon after Andromeda left claiming that Teddy needed bed, Harry knew she was right because he'd been grouchy for the last hour or so. Last to leave were Frank and Alice, who unfortunately had to go back to St. Mungos, they were allowed out for one day to see Neville, but they still had a month until they could properly be released.

Once everyone had gone the house seemed so empty and quiet, and although it hadn't been a particularly long day, it _had _been extremely busy, so feeling old for going to bed as early as 10.30pm everyone bade each other goodnight and went to bed.

Harry and Daphne were lying in bed together, lying as close to each other as they could get, when Daphne sighed, 'thanks for the best Christmas ever Harry,' the Gryffindor smiled softly as he kissed her on the forehead, 'you're welcome love,' he said sleepily, as they both drifted off into a peaceful sleep after a very enjoyable Christmas day.

**_TBC _**


	32. Quidditch & Quarrels

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 32 - Quidditch & Quarrels **

When dawn broke on Boxing Day everyone slept on in Grimmauld place, they'd all eaten and drunk so much the day before that even though they'd had a fairly early night, they were all exhausted. Even Hermione, who usually never slept past 10am, didn't wake up until noon. They all felt incredibly lazy, but very refreshed and headed downstairs for a fantastic brunch of bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding and hash browns.

It wasn't until the doorbell rang that Harry cursed, 'I forgot the others were coming today,' he said, rushing to the door in only his pyjamas.

The 4 people in the doorway looked amused, 'Nice look Potter,' Theo said as he walked into the house and looked around, he whistled, 'nice house.'

Harry only smiled his amusement, 'thanks Theo, we kind of forgot you guys were coming today, we just woke up.'

'What did I tell you?' Tracey said to Dean who shrugged, smirking at Harry, 'guess I had more faith in Harry than you did.'

Harry chuckled, 'well we did drink slightly more than we should have last night,' he admitted, leading Theo, Sadie, Tracey and Dean into the kitchen, 'are you hungry? There's plenty left if you want anything.'

As they tucked into some lunch the group got talking and exchanged thank yous for the gifts they'd gotten. It wasn't until Theo said he'd gotten a firebolt from his stepmother that a plan hatched in Draco's head.

'Why don't we have a game of Quidditch?'

Harry laughed, 'Where? We're in the middle of London, and Grimmauld Place doesn't even have a back garden.'

Hermione and Draco exchanged a look and Harry narrowed his eyes at them, 'What did you do?'

'Well, we might have forgotten to tell you that we gave you a back garden, with a Quidditch pitch, and a roof garden.'

Harry gaped at them, 'but...I didn't even see any doors...'

As they'd all finished their lunch Draco and Hermione led Harry, with the others close behind him, into the hallway and at the far end from the front door there was a painting with a snitch on it, flitting around the portrait very fast. Draco snatched at the portrait and Harry was amazed to see that his hand went inside the portrait and he grabbed the snitch. He pulled his hand out and the snitch was now a golden key and a keyhole had appeared in the portrait. Draco put the key in the keyhole and turned it, the portrait swung open, leading out into a huge back garden.

There was a path leading to a Quidditch pitch, it was half the size of the Hogwarts one, but it had the golden hoops and everything. All around the garden were ponds and flowers with frogs hopping around and fish swimming inside them. It was beautiful.

'It's hidden from muggles, just like Grimmauld place itself,' Hermione said, swelling with pride, and Harry understood why, the magic she must have performed to enable the whole garden invisible was incredibly complicated, she really was amazing.

'Just don't fly too high,' Hermione advised, 'or you'll come out of the protected area right above Muggle London, and that probably wouldn't go down too well.'

They laughed and said she was probably right and then set to work deciding on the teams. Draco and Harry decided to each be captains and got everyone else to stand in line. To decide who got to pick first they flipped a Knut.

'I call heads,' Draco said, and Harry rolled his eyes, he hadn't been fast enough, 'I'll take animals.'

To make it fair Hermione flipped the coin, 'Animals, Harry, you pick first.'

Harry picked Daphne first, of course, and so it went on. As there were 11 of them they couldn't quite make up a full team. Harry was playing seeker with two chasers, Daphne and Sadie. He had one beater, Neville, and his keeper was Susan. Draco was also playing seeker and had 3 chasers (because there was an odd number and Hermione was terrible), Hermione, Dean and Tracey, his beater was Theo and his Keeper was Hannah. It looked like it would make for an interesting game.

They took their positions, Harry blew the whistle and the game began, where Hermione had gotten a quaffle, bludger, bats and snitch from he didn't know, but he was impressed that she'd thought into it so much. As the game began it became clear that Susan was a much better Keeper than Hannah who let in 3 consecutive goals. Daphne and Sadie were good chasers though, they'd always played together and they were talented. Whereas Dean had briefly been a chaser but preferred being a beater and Tracey wasn't playing alongside Daphne and Sadie as usual, Hermione just hovered around in the air and screamed whenever a ball came near her, including the quaffle. Draco was more than a little exasperated at her.

They played for about an hour when Harry caught the snitch, beating Draco to it by about a millisecond; things were much more even now that he had a firebolt. In the end the score was 230-60 to Harry's team, but before the capture of the snitch they'd been 80-60, so it really depended on that crucial catch, which Harry continued to tease Draco for all the way back to the house. The ground had been muddy with the cold and the rain so everyone was more than a little dirty and headed off for showers. As they made their way to their bedrooms, trailing mud through the house, poor Kreacher was walking behind them cleaning it up.

The house was getting a bit more cramped now that two more couples were staying, Harry had decided it was best to put Dean in his Father's old bedroom, with Tracey, but with Theo and Sadie staying too they had no choice but to put them in Sirius's old room which had been entirely done up with the exception of the things stuck to the walls. They all met up an hour later in the drawing room and Hermione said she'd show Harry the roof garden which he'd also never noticed an entrance too. They walked right up to the top floor of the house and Hermione opened the door to the attic stairs, Harry was confused but followed her up the stairs into what had once been a dingy, creepy attic full of dark magic objects. Now it had windows and the light streamed in. There were sofas and chairs around the large room, which had white walls, and wooden beams.

'We thought it would be a nice area to relax,' Draco said, walking over to the window and looking out at the view. Grimmauld place was attached to Muggle houses on both sides so he thought the view out of the side windows would be a brick wall, but he'd forgotten that the windows were probably magical, like in the Ministry of magic. After all, the windows around the rest of the house were magical. The view wasn't of the Muggle street, it was a view of all of Muggle London, from one window you could see the houses of parliament, and from another the London eye, and from another London bridge, it was amazing.

'You guys just keep amazing me,' Harry said honestly, 'this is the best present anyone has ever given me.'

Hermione grinned broadly and ran up to Harry, tackling him and squeezing him in a bear hug that would have rivalled that of Mrs Weasley.

'There's more,' she said, once she'd released him and Harry let her pull him over to another portrait. This one was of a vase of flowers, Hermione reached into the portrait and put her hand inside the vase, when she took it out it was wet and she was holding a key. Again, a keyhole appeared in the portrait and once the key had been turned it swung open, showing another set of stairs. They climbed the small set of stairs and emerged in a fantastic roof garden. It was obviously magical because the sun was shining and it was warm, just like the back garden had been.

'There's a dome, around the house,' Hermione explained, 'that controls the weather, it's because of all the enchantments making it invisible from Muggles, they are so strong it stops the rain coming through, which needs to come through for the plants to grow. It's called an AWS, Artificial weather spell, and I had to call in a favour with a guy at the Ministry to get it done.'

'You're fantastic Hermione,' Harry said, walking around the roof garden. There was a patio in the middle and plants all around it, there were strawberries growing, and tomatoes, it was just incredible. Harry sat down on one of the loungers and laid back, enjoying the time to just sit and relax, he'd never had such a great Christmas break before and there was still New Year to come.

* * *

><p>The roof garden, as relaxing as it was, got boring after a while, and like the big kids that they were, they decided to play hide and seek.<p>

'What about a game of hide and seek?' Hermione suggested, 'in a big wizarding house like this it will be loads of fun!'

'What in hell is hide and seek?' Theo asked, from his sun lounger, lifting his sunglasses up to look at her.

'It's a Muggle game, one person counts and everyone goes and hides,' Hermione explained.

'It sounds ridiculous,' Theo said, rolling his eyes and putting his sunglasses back on.

'I think it sounds fun!' Daphne piped up and Tracey nodded, 'it does sound pretty good!'

'I'd be up for it,' Harry said and Draco and Sadie nodded that they would be too.

'What about you guys?' Hermione asked Neville, Hannah and Dean who also agreed to play, leaving Theo to grumble and say he'd join in too if everyone else was. Hermione offered to count and everyone else ran off to find a hiding place. Once she'd counted to 100 she set off to find them.

She'd been right, hide and seek in a big wizarding house _was_ more fun, and the places she found them were much more amusing than in any other game. She found Theo in the food hatch in the formal living room, Susan in Kreacher's bedroom, Hannah hiding in a bookshelf in the library, Sadie in a wardrobe, Harry sitting in one of the golden hoops on the Quidditch pitch, Neville _inside_ one of the couches in the drawing room, Draco _transfigured _into a couch in the drawing room ('how did you know it was me?', 'I've never seen a couch with blonde hair', 'oops, guess I need to work on my transfiguration.'), Dean using a bubble head charm inside one of the ponds in the back garden and lastly Tracey, who was 'hiding' in the pantry in the basement, eating chocolate biscuits.

The game had been amusing, but by the end of it they decided it was dinnertime and with dinner came alcohol so after dinner came more alcohol, and then a little bit more. They were all so busy catching up they didn't realise they'd gone through 4 bottles of wine between them already and someone, Harry was sure it was Theo, brought up the idea of wizarding truth or dare.

Harry had never played it before so he was happy enough to see what the fuss was about. Theo drew a magical circle around them all, meaning they would _have _to do their dare, unless they shouted 'pass!' before 1 minute was up. They also each took a sip of Veritaserum to ensure they'd answer the questions truthfully. They kept the firewhiskey flowing and the game started out as a good laugh, at first.

Draco got dared to strip down to his boxers which he did quite happily, claiming that Sadie (who'd given him the dare) just wanted to see him naked. Theo had glared at him for that and Draco had chuckled his amusement.

Hermione got asked who the first guy she'd slept with was and in an embarrassed mumble had said, 'Ron...'

Draco scoffed, and shook his head in disapproval at his girlfriend, 'Aren't you glad you decided to fall in love with me, or you'd be having ginger babies with Weasel right about now.'

Harry rolled his eyes and got given a truth question, from Tracey, 'First girl you ever kissed.'

Hermione burst out laughing, knowing the answer already. Harry glared at her playfully, 'Cho Chang,' he admitted, and Hermione's laughter got louder, 'and how did you describe it... oh yes, wet, because she was crying.'

This sent the others into hysterical laughter, 'Were you that bad Harry?' Neville asked as he caught his breath.

'You'll pay for this one,' Harry said to Hermione, with a slightly evil look in his eyes, Hermione only smirked, 'You're rubbing off on her Draco.'

Draco grinned and winked at his Gryffindor girlfriend, 'Good to know.'

On Theo's turn Daphne asked him, 'Did you ever sleep with a teacher?'

Theo rolled his eyes, 'You're obsessed with that Daph, I told you then and I'll tell you now, I didn't ever sleep with Sinistra!'

Daphne smirked, she'd constantly asked him about it in 5th year and it had driven him crazy, but she was sure he'd been lying.

'Sadie, truth or dare?'

'Truth,' Sadie replied, looking scared.

'Did you date anyone before Theo? And if you did, who?' Dean asked her.

Sadie glanced at Theo and then at Neville, 'only one, in the summer between 6th and 7th year I sort of dated Neville...we lived near each other and it was a bad time for both of us.'

Hannah smiled at Sadie, she already knew, Neville had told her all about it, but Theo gaped at his girlfriend who rolled her eyes, 'Theo, you've slept with half the girls in this circle, all Neville and I did was kiss.'

That shut Theo up, and ironically a while later he got asked, 'How many people in this circle have you hooked up with?'

Theo glanced at Sadie who was looking at him with exasperation and amusement.

'Well, there was Tracey, in 5th year and Susan, in 6th year and believe it or not that's actually it,' Theo said, quite proud of himself for the answer being so small. Sadie knew all about his past, she'd been his best friend through it all, when he was hooking up with Pansy, and Lavender, and Cho, and Katie Bell, and at one point in 6th year she was sure even Luna Lovegood had become a Theodore Nott conquest.

When it came back around to Harry, he was asked by Draco, 'what really happened in the tent between you and Hermione?' and Harry had to swallow nervously before he answered the Slytherins question.

'Well, we, um,' he looked at Hermione who was a little bit paler than usual; 'comforted each other.'

'Harry, get to the point,' Draco said, with narrowed eyes.

'Okay, we had sex!' Harry blurted out, stupid Veritaserum. He slapped his hand over his mouth.

'Woah, hold up, how many times?' Daphne asked, shocked by this revelation.

'More than once, but less than 5,' Harry said, waiting for the slap from Draco that never came.

Hermione sighed, 'Ron had just left, and we were falling apart, we're just really close friends Draco. The best way I can think of to put it is that we shared a bed every night until Ron came back, but that doesn't mean anything happened, it really was just for the comfort of knowing there was someone else there and we weren't completely alone.'

'You can't know what it feels like unless you're forced to spend months on the run, with barely enough to eat, a war raging and no way to get in touch with those you love,' Harry said, and he thought that Draco and Daphne understood, because the issue was put to rest there.

The air was slightly awkward, but soon the issue became completely forgotten about as the game went underway. Then a question came Daphne's way that changed everything.

'Who was your first boyfriend?'

Daphne couldn't speak at first, but everyone saw her meet Draco's eyes. Hermione gasped, surprised Draco hadn't mentioned anything to her, she had never told him about Harry but it hadn't been a relationship, it had been a fling, if you could even call it that.

'Draco,' Daphne said quietly.

'How long?' Harry asked, feeling hurt that Daphne had never told him she'd had a relationship with one of his best friends.

'A while,' Daphne said, avoiding the question.

'How long Daphne?' Harry asked, his voice low, angry and dangerous.

Daphne looked down at the ground as she replied, 'Two years.'

Harry swore loudly as he stood up, 'Two years! Two years and you never told me?'

'You never told me about you and Hermione!'

'There wasn't even a 'me and Hermione' it wasn't ever a relationship, it was nothing more than a fling and I know you haven't told me about all of yours, but I did tell you about all of my _relationships _and I expected you'd trust me enough to do the same!'

Harry turned on his heel and stormed from the room. Looking from Daphne's face to the door Harry had left through Neville jumped to his feet and hurried after his friend.

Draco was looking at Hermione and the betrayal on her face was clear, 'You dated someone I became very close too, for 2 years, and you never bothered to tell me?' She asked, standing up and making her way for the door, 'thanks Draco, thanks a lot.'

As the door slammed behind her Hannah and Susan hurried after her. Leaving the room in an awkward silence.

'If you hadn't been so stubborn and had let me tell Hermione when I asked this would never have happened!' Draco shouted at his ex, getting to his feet and making his way towards the door, 'you just chronically can't trust, can you!'

Once Draco had stormed out, and Theo had rushed out after him, Daphne burst into tears and ran from the room, leaving Sadie and Tracey to dash after her. In the end Dean was the last one in the empty room and shook his head in disbelief as he got to his feet and decided to go and find Harry and Neville.

* * *

><p>Two people knew the house better than most, Harry, who owned it and Hermione who had renovated it, Draco had supplied the money but she'd been the one who logged all the hours in the old place.<p>

As a result, they both ended up in the same room, the same hidden room, which no one else knew about, or so they thought. Where the portrait of Sirius's crazy Mother had been, there was now a portrait of Sirius himself, in his younger, glory days. The portrait smiled at Harry, 'Remember, everyone makes mistakes,' he said and Harry shrugged, 'I just don't want to talk to either of them right now,' he admitted, with a heavy sigh.

Harry glanced around to make sure no one was listening and said, 'Prongs, Padfoot and Moony.' The portrait swung open and Harry walked into the room. There was a safe where the gold had once been kept before the Blacks had entrusted it to Gringotts, and lots of old documents tracing the family tree right back to Salazar Slytherin. Hermione had left this room as it was, but she'd cleaned it out, which it had needed.

In the room, sitting against the wall, crying, was none other than Hermione. She looked up sharply when the portrait swung open and was relieved when she saw Harry, 'Oh, it's just you Harry,' she said as the portrait swung shut behind him and he joined her on the floor.

He wasn't really sure how it happened, they were both so angry and they both felt so betrayed, that they needed some way to channel it. Harry and Hermione had never been much good at talking things out, Hermione would talk and Harry wouldn't listen or Harry would try and talk but not be able to find the words which would only make Hermione more annoyed. So, here they were, on the floor in a hidden room in Grimmauld place, both angry at their partners, and what did they do? They kissed, and Harry flashbacked to the night that Ron left.

It was exactly the same. There wasn't love or passion in either kiss, there was bitterness and anger, and frustration. It was hard and needy and one or both of them was crying, just like they had been the night that Ron had left. Only, things had gone further that night, and as angry as they were Hermione and Harry were both too in love to let that happen this time.

When they broke apart they both gasped and caught their breath, Hermione leaning her head on Harry's shoulder.

'Thanks,' Harry said, a little breathlessly, 'I needed that.'

Hermione nodded into his shoulder, 'me too,' she said, still catching her breath.

'Draco's such a bastard.'

'Daphne's such a cold-hearted cow.'

'I still love him though.'

'But it doesn't stop me loving her.'

They had spoken at the same time and both shared a laugh at their words. They sat with their backs against the cold wall and their faces towards the big safe full of documents, for a while longer, both silent, both lost in their own thoughts.

Half an hour must have passed before Harry stood and offered his hand to Hermione, she took it and he pulled her up, 'We should probably stop hiding now.'

'You're going to do something stupid, aren't you?' Hermione asked, looking into Harry's eyes.

'No,' Harry lied as they climbed through the portrait hole, 'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Yes, you do,' Hermione said, 'you have that look on your face, the one you get when you're planning something stupid.'

'I'm not going to do anything stupid,' Harry said, 'I'm going to duel Draco.'

He walked away towards the duelling room and Hermione followed, muttering, 'Oh and that's not stupid then?'

* * *

><p>Daphne had hurried to her room, and she'd only just gotten in and flung herself on the bed when it opened again and Sadie and Tracey walked in.<p>

They'd not seen her like this since the break up with Draco, and it was a sorry sight indeed.

'Daphne, you need to talk to us,' Sadie said, sitting down on the bed and placing her hand on her friends shoulder.

'No I don't!' Daphne said, her voice muffled by the pillow she had her face buried in.

'Daph, Harry will come around, he's just upset that you kept this from him, and you know Draco has a terrible temper,' Tracey reasoned with her friend, but it didn't seem to be working.

Daphne was being transported back to a time she really didn't want to remember. She sighed as the inevitable flashbacks flashed through her head.

_A naive 5__th__ year version of herself was charmed by him, he asked her out, she said yes, but they kept it a secret from the rest of the school, Daphne hated having the limelight on herself._

_It had been a whirlwind romance, full of fun and laughter and she'd had the best year of her life with Draco in 5__th__ year._

_Then the story warped, the images got darker, Daphne returned for 6__th__ year to a different Draco Malfoy, he was cold and unfeeling, angry all the time, and he just didn't have time for her anymore. Her perfect vision of life, of love, and of him was completely shattered. She held onto him for a little while, but then she realised at the end of 6__th__ year that he was a murderer, and it was over. He broke up with her for her own protection, or so he said, but he'd broken her heart and she vowed to never feel pain like that again._

_Daphne Greengrass had locked her heart and refused to date ever again, all because of the damage Draco Malfoy had caused._

'I didn't want to think about it ever again,' Daphne said, turning to look up the white ceiling, 'I wanted to make that part of my past go away.'

'You can't just erase the parts of the past you don't like,' Sadie said, from her spot beside Daphne, 'they mould you into the person you are today, without them you wouldn't be the Daph we all love so much.'

'Yeah, well I don't think Harry loves me very much at the moment,' Daphne said bitterly, 'I should have just told him,' she groaned, and hit herself in the face with a pillow, 'I thought he'd be angry but I only made him more angry by not telling him. I'm such an idiot!'

'You're not an idiot,' Tracey said, 'you just haven't dated for a while, you're getting used to it again.'

Sadie nodded, 'Of course you're going to make mistakes Daphne, everyone does, but they learn from them and you and Harry will come back from this.'

'I suspected as much, about him and Hermione,' Daphne added, changing the subject, 'I know there isn't anything anymore, but I did wonder.'

'It doesn't matter now, does it? He loves you, not her.'

'I suppose,' Daphne said, wiping her face and walking over to her mirror to reapply her makeup.

'Thank you,' she said, turning to her two best friends, 'I'm so lucky to have friends like you guys,' she hugged them both tightly, she didn't know what she'd do without Tracey and Sadie.

* * *

><p>When Harry stormed into the dueling roommini room of requirement, he wasn't at all surprised to find Draco with Theo, but he was surprised to find Neville and Dean dueling them.

'Don't do my dirty work for me,' Harry said, as he made his way onto the platform and held his wand at the ready. Neville and Dean jumped off of the stage.

'Nev, you're my second,' Harry said, and Draco turned to Theo, 'Theo, you're my second.' Both boys nodded and then Harry and Draco walked towards each other and did the stupid bow.

'You slept with my girlfriend,' Harry hissed.

'And you slept with mine,' Draco hissed back.

They both walked back to their starting places and then the duel began.

Hermione watched helplessly as spells shot between them both, red, blue, pink, orange, all different colours. Hannah and Susan were also standing on the sidelines watching the duel.

Harry seemed to have the upper hand when the door opened and Daphne walked in, flanked by Sadie and Tracey.

'Stop this stupid nonsense!' Daphne shouted at the boys and immediately the flying sparks stopped.

'Daphne!'

'Harry, I want to talk to you, upstairs,' she ordered and Harry, scared, and worried, immediately dropped off the platform and left the room.

'Talk to him,' Daphne said quietly to Hermione who nodded.

'Come on Draco,' Hermione said, taking his hand and leading him upstairs and into the library.

'Well,' Neville said, to the others in the room, 'should we have a drink while we wait?'

* * *

><p>Once they were in the library Draco sighed, trying to think of how to start his story, or rather his explanation. He knew Hermione wanted the truth and he thought it was only fair that she got it, since he'd kept it from her for so long.<p>

'I did love Daphne, or at least I thought I did. We'd known each other since 1st year but we didn't get close until we were seated together in 5th year. She was fun, and clever and beautiful so I asked her out and she said yes,' Draco began, watching Hermione to gage her opinion, she seemed calm, so far.

'We dated for the rest of 5th year, and it was just like any other relationship, we were really happy together, but I kept it from everyone apart from my family and closest friends. I knew what was coming, with the Dark Lord, and I didn't want to put her in danger,' Hermione nodded, understanding Draco's predicament at that time of his life.

Draco sighed, playing with a thread on his Weasley jumper, 'we didn't see each other over the summer, we just wrote letters, and then when we got back to school for 6th year everything was different. I had changed because of what I'd been ordered to do and I withdrew into myself, I just wanted to be alone, but I still loved Daphne, and I didn't want to hurt her.'

Draco seemed to be getting to the painful part of the story now, 'the night Dumbledore died, I told her in a letter what had happened and I broke up with her in that letter, for her own safety. I didn't see her again until school in 7th year and she barely talked to me for the first few months, then we made up and agreed to maintain a friendship if we could, it turned out that we could so we stayed friends.'

'You broke her heart,' Hermione realised, 'and that's why she didn't want to date anyone else.'

Draco nodded, 'which was why I was so happy when she met Harry because I hadn't seen her come out of that shell since I'd broken up with her, but Harry eased her out so naturally, they really are perfect together.'

'You're over it now though, aren't you?' Hermione asked, a little unsure of herself. Next to Daphne Greengrass with her long blonde hair and her blue eyes she didn't feel very pretty, or special.

'I promise Hermione,' Draco said, not taking his eyes away from hers, 'I'm completely over everything that happened. I wasn't until you and I got closer, but you've changed me. Compared to what I feel for you I don't even know if it really was love I felt for Daphne.'

Hermione could tell he was being truthful as she hugged him tightly, 'I'm sorry for shouting Draco.'

'I'm sorry for not telling you sooner,' Draco said, breaking the hug and kissing her lightly, 'no more secrets,' they both agreed, and just like that, they had made up.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile Daphne and Harry were talking about the same issue in their bedroom upstairs.<p>

'I'm sorry for not telling you sooner Harry,' Daphne said honestly, as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

'Why didn't you?' Harry asked as he sat down next to her.

'Honestly,' Daphne said, 'I thought you'd be angry at me, and Draco. The irony is you were angrier because I didn't tell you.'

'You should have just trusted me Daph,' Harry said, a little sadly.

Daphne nodded, looking shameful, 'I know, but I have trust issues Harry. Draco and I got together in 5th year and kept it secret, but we broke up after he tried to kill Dumbledore. All of 6th year I had no idea what he was doing, that he was plotting to kill Dumbledore and ruin Hogwarts, he kept it all from me and I find it so hard to trust anyone now.'

'What happened?' Harry asked, curiously, 'between you and Draco?'

'We started out happy, then he changed in 6th year and we slowly drifted apart. The night Dumbledore died I got a letter from Draco, it said he'd been trying to kill Dumbledore all year, and he'd been fixing a vanishing cabinet that linked with Borgin and Burkes, then he said he was breaking up with me for my own safety. I didn't see him again until we returned for 7th year.'

'And you made up, and became friends?' Harry asked, wanting to know the full story.

Daphne nodded, and Harry sighed, lying back on the bed and looking up the top of the four-poster bed.

'I cried for about a week,' Daphne said, lying back next to him looking at the same spot on the top of the bed, 'I barely ate or slept. Then I came out of it and decided to never let anyone else hurt me again so I put up all the walls that you tore down in a couple of months.'

Harry smiled, turning his head to look at her, 'I really broke them down that easy?'

Daphne smiled back, 'Yeah, no one else managed, people tried, but you were the first guy who drove me crazy, you made me fall completely for you.'

Harry grinned as he rolled onto his stomach and kissed his girlfriend. She smiled into the kiss and kissed him back. It was nothing like the brash kiss he'd shared with Hermione, it was sweet, and soft and passionate, just like his relationship with Daphne. Harry felt himself get lost in her, like he was fluttering in the clouds, high above the world.

When the kiss broke Harry rested his head on Daphne's shoulder, 'I love you Daph,' he murmured sleepily and Daphne smiled happily down at the boy-who-lived, 'I love you too, Harry,' she said softly as her hand automatically went to his hair. It looked like everything was going to be okay after all.

* * *

><p>The next day was Saturday, and it was another lazy day for most. Draco took Hermione out for an apology meal at a fancy London restaurant and Harry took Daphne to an apology Holyhead Harpies game where he couldn't believe it when he saw the name Ginny Weasley on the programme as 'substitute seeker.'<p>

The day after that was the day of the Weasley dinner party, so everyone slept in fairly late, then got up and dressed in smart-casual outfits as they left the house at 3.30pm and apparated to the burrow.

Draco and Daphne were slightly nervous about meeting Harry and Hermione's substitute family. Neville and Hannah had come along too, but Dean, Tracey, Theo, Sadie and Susan had stayed at Grimmauld Place. Their plans for the day were mock Quidditch games, chess, and experimenting with the room of requirement.

Harry took Daphne's hand and gave her an encouraging smile as they walked through the gate at the burrow. Harry smiled as he looked up at the house, he missed it a lot.

When they rang the bell Mrs. Weasley smiled at them brightly, 'I'm so glad you made it!' she said, hugging Harry and Hermione, then Daphne and Draco who were surprised by the warm greeting.

'Just come into the living room, while we wait for food,' Mrs. Weasley said, ushering them into the living room where Harry saw all of the Weasleys again.

'Daphne, Draco,' Harry said, 'this is Arthur Weasley, Molly Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Bill Weasley and his wife Fleur, Percy Weasley, George Weasley and of course you know Ron and Ginny.'

Daphne and Draco smiled around at everyone and soon enough Daphne was engrossed in conversation with Bill about curse breaking, Hermione was catching up with Ron, Draco was telling George about some of the pranks he'd played on the Gryffindors during his days at Hogwarts, Hannah was chatting with Fleur, Neville and Arthur were discussing the London underground and Harry was talking to Ginny.

'How are things with Michael?'

'Great,' Ginny replied with a smile, 'he's brilliant. How about you and Daphne?'

'Great now,' Harry said truthfully, 'we had our first big fight a couple of days ago, but we managed to come out of it better.'

'That's good,' Ginny said, smiling, 'I think you're great together.'

Harry blushed, 'Thanks Gin,' he said.

Ginny smiled broadly, 'I guess sometimes there really is good in goodbye,' she said, looking at the room of people, 'I mean look at us, we're so much happier now.'

'Yeah, I wouldn't have thought it at the time, breaking up with you was terrible, but it really does seem to have been the best thing, for both of us,' Harry agreed, glancing over at Daphne.

'You're practically his hero, by the way, Michael,' Ginny said, clearly amused by this, 'he thinks you're amazing.'

'And you don't?' Harry joked, causing Ginny to laugh and tell him to deflate his head.

By the time food was ready everyone had arrived and the kitchen table had been magically extended to fit all the Weasleys, plus their dates, and Harry, Hermione, Neville, Draco, Daphne and Hannah. Harry wasn't surprised to see Michael with Ginny, or Angelina with George, or even Penelope with Percy but he was surprised to see Katie Bell with Ron.

'We met up at a Chudley Cannons game,' Ron explained, 'and Katie started to work part-time in the shop while she looked for a job on a Quidditch team.'

'And it was love at first sight?' Harry joked, but Katie chuckled, 'I thought he was such an idiot when we were at school, but he's much more mature now.'

The couple shared a smile and Harry was surprised by how real it was, he was incredibly happy for them though and he could tell that Hermione felt the same way.

The meal passed peacefully as everyone caught up and the Weasleys found out more about Draco, Daphne, Neville and Hannah. After the meal the Weasleys offered them a drink and asked if they'd like to stay, but they decided not to, they felt it was unfair to the others who they'd already left alone at Grimmauld place for hours.

They all thanked Mrs. Weasley for a lovely meal and apparated back to Grimmauld place where most of the 8th year were gathered for a party that Theo had thrown. Harry could have gotten annoyed but he laughed instead and joined in, after all a party was a party and life was pretty good at the moment.

_**TBC **_


	33. Happy New Year

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 33 – Happy New Year**

It was the 31st of December and everyone in Grimmauld Place was excited about the New Year's party that night especially the hosts, Draco and Harry, who were technically the co-owners of the house.

The girls were already in the large ballroom, dressed up and looking gorgeous as usual. Harry and Draco were standing by the door welcoming the guests as they apparated into the corridor. For one night only the powerful wards surrounding the house had been let down to allow visitors in. Draco even had a bodyguard to make sure unwelcome ex-death eaters or reporters didn't get into the party.

'You've come a long way,' Draco said to Harry, as he stood next to the Gryffindor in his scarlet silk dress robes. Harry frowned, not understanding what his friend meant. They only had a few minutes before the guests started to arrive as Draco smiled and elaborated, 'when we met you were a half-blood who didn't know what his own blood status meant, now you dress and act like the pureblood you are, embracing your Father's side of the family. You have grace and style now, and you are throwing elaborate parties. You might not like it, but you're one of us now.'

Harry didn't quite know how to take that, but he couldn't ask Draco if he was insulting him or not because at that moment the guests started to arrive. The Weasleys were first, arriving together with their dates. Molly and Arthur, Bill and a heavily pregnant Fleur, George and Angelina, Percy and Penelope, Ron and Katie, Ginny and Michael, then right at the back of the pack Charlie and none other than their very own Professor Sinistra.

Harry's surprise must have shown on his face because Charlie winked at him, 'best thing about coming back to the UK, getting the girl who I let get away before I left,' he said, as he tightened his arm on Sinistra and made his way into the ballroom with the rest of his family.

'That's...' Harry trailed off and Draco finished, 'interesting?'

'Yeah,' Harry agreed, still surprised when Narcissa and Andromeda turned up with Teddy. Close behind them were Hermione's parents, Elizabeth and John Granger who arrived through the front door by Muggle transport. The next group arrived together which didn't surprise Harry or Draco, they were the type that travelled in packs; Lareina Greengrass, Lorelai Davis, Salvadora Nott and Lotus Cauldwell, with them were Astoria and her boyfriend Dennis Creevey. After that most of the people arriving were their fellow 8th year pupils, Parvati came with Poliakoff, then there was Lavender, Padma, Isabelle, Tessie, Terry, Blaise, Justin and Ernie. Megan Jones had been invited, as had Zacharias Smith but neither turned up. Some pupils from lower years were invited too, including Anthony Goldstein, Colin Creevey and Luna Lovegood who looked like a Muggle hippy in the cream dress she was wearing, it was embroidered with flowers and her hair was bushy and had multicoloured braids in it. Harry held back a chuckle as he hugged her and asked her how her Christmas had been.

'Oh, it was wonderful,' Luna said brightly, 'Daddy took Colin and me to Scotland to see the Kelpie there that the Muggles call Nessie.'

'Oh, did you see it?' Harry asked, trying not to smile at Draco who he could feel shaking with silent laughter next to him.

Luna nodded, sharing a broad smile with Colin, 'Oh yes, it was marvellous, wasn't it Colin?'

Colin nodded, just as eager as Luna, 'the lake was frozen over because it was so cold so it couldn't drag us to the bottom of the lake and devour us.'

'It bit me though!' Luna said, showing them a cut on her arm proudly.

'Glad you had a good Christmas,' Harry said, watching the odd couple walk into the ballroom. The moment they were out of hearing range Draco burst out laughing.

'She's brilliant, isn't she?' Draco said, muffled through his chuckles.

Harry grinned, 'she's fantastic,' he agreed turning to greet the next guests, the remnants of his old Quidditch team. Oliver Wood had turned up with Alicia Spinnet which didn't surprise Harry at all, he'd been wondering when Oliver would finally man up and ask the girl out. Angelina of course was already here with George and Katie with Ron.

'Did you hear about Ron and Katie?' Harry asked Oliver as he shook his hand and hugged Alicia.

Oliver chuckled, 'I had, I didn't believe it though. They're really together?'

Harry smiled, understanding the scepticism, 'yep, go see it with your own eyes,' he added, pointing to where the couple were standing in the ballroom. Laughing Oliver and Alicia made their way inside to join them.

The next group were the teachers from Hogwarts. McGonagall had brought a date and that date was none other than the Minister for Magic himself, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Harry felt a bit more daring, a bit more like his Father, when he greeted the Headmistress.

'Evening Minister,' he said, smiling at him, 'and I see you are here with Professor McGonagall.'

McGonagall narrowed her eyes at him, as if sensing a Potter-like comment or joke coming on, ever since he'd defeated Voldemort Harry had become more like his Father, in good ways rather than bad ones.

'I can just see the headlines tomorrow Kingsley, Minister and Minnie: A Magical Match.'

Kinglsey chuckled and even McGonagall looked like she was fighting a smile, 'Mr. Potter you become more like your Father with every passing day.'

Harry bowed, 'Thank you very much,' he said, causing McGonagall to smile for a fraction of a second before making her way into the ballroom with her 'boyfriend'.

Hagrid turned up with his fiancé, Olympe, Trelawney and Filch came together and Harry couldn't believe the change. Trelawney's crazy hair was straightened and looked like it had actually been washed, she was wearing make-up and a nice dress; she looked like the woman in James and Lily's wedding photograph again. Even Filch scrubbed up okay in black dress robes; he'd had a haircut too, of what was left of his greying hair anyway. Flitwick and Sprout came together, as friends, and Aberforth even turned up to the party, looking a little awkward and out of place until Neville made his way over to the old man. Amongst the other guests were Mr and Mrs Diggory Cho Chang, and of course Neville's parents who were again only allowed out of St. Mungo's for the occasion, and Viktor Krum who immediately caught Susan's eye and made a beeline for her.

'Is that everyone?' Draco asked, glancing at his watch. Harry frowned, and looked at the guest list, 'not quite,' he said and as if on cue the doorbell rang.

Draco frowned, 'I thought the only Muggles coming were Hermione's parents?'

Harry smiled vaguely at the blonde as they made their way down the staircase to the large front door, 'I have family too Draco.'

Draco's cheeks turned a faint colour of pink and he looked down, apparently ashamed that he'd forgotten that Harry did have some family left. They said no more as Harry opened the door and welcomed in his Aunt Petunia and his cousin Dudley.

'Hey,' Harry said, hugging his Aunt and shaking Dudley's hand, 'I'm really glad you could come.'

'Thank you for inviting us Harry,' Petunia said, looking down at the floor with an expression on her face similar to Draco's, 'Goodness knows we don't deserve your kindness after what we put you through.'

'Sorry Harry,' Dudley said quietly from his spot next to his Mother. Harry however only shook his head, 'See this man here,' he said, pointing to Draco who looked up in surprise.

'He made my life hell when I started at Hogwarts, he was my arch enemy and now he's my best friend,' Harry said, making his point loud and clear, 'I don't hold grudges, now come in and enjoy the party.'

Petunia smiled as Harry took her by the arm and lead her up the stairs into the ballroom, Draco and Dudley walked behind them a little awkwardly and Draco was relieved when they seemed to finally reach the room and parted with Harry's Muggle family.

Harry took a deep breath as they walked into the hall and Draco stopped him, placing an arm on his shoulder, 'Harry,' he said in a soft, quiet voice, 'are you sure you want to do this? I can do the talking if you like.'

Harry smiled gratefully at Draco and shook his head, 'I appreciate the offer, but this is my house and my party as much as it is yours, we'll share the speech.'

Draco nodded, quite proud of Harry in a way he didn't really understand, 'You know,' he said thoughtfully as he made his way to the small stage at the top of the ballroom, 'for someone so famous you should really be an ace at public speaking.'

Harry shrugged, 'I've never exactly been ordinary now, have I?' Draco chuckled at the question and merely shook his head as he and Harry took to the stage. Draco squeezed Harry's arm one last time and they turned to face their family and friends.

The crowd went quiet when they saw their hosts on the small stage and Draco threw out his chest looking remarkably like Percy, he strode to the front of the stage and addressed the crowd like he was born to do so.

'Harry and I would like to welcome you to our New Year's party here at our co-owned Manor. As many of you know as of yesterday I am Draco Black. We'd like to thank you all for coming tonight and Harry would like to give a small speech before the party starts.'

As Draco walked to Harry, he gently patted him on the arm, a gesture that went unseen by most, but at the front of the crowd Hermione and Daphne smiled at the show of support Draco was giving his friend. Harry smiled at Draco and walked forward, not looking as nervous as he felt as he gave his speech.

'As some of you may know I've always prefer New Year's celebrations to Christmas celebrations because I feel welcoming in a New Year is something that ought to be celebrated. I've never felt that more than this year because it makes me very happy to say with complete certainty that when the bells ring tonight and we welcome in the New Year it will be our first year without the dark wizard we knew as Voldemort ruling over our lives,' Harry paused to take a breath and Draco grinned proudly behind him, happy that he was doing so well. There was some cheering in the audience at Harry's words, making him smile and helping him continue.

'I owe the defeat of Voldemort to many people, several of whom are in this room. However there are many people that I lost who I wish could be here to see this great New Year welcomed in. So as much as tonight is a time of celebration, it is also a time of grieving. I'd like you all to raise a glass to the fallen of the both the Great Wizarding War and the Second Wizarding War,' as Harry finished his speech he raised his champagne glass and out of the corner of his eye saw Draco do the same behind him. All through the crowd glasses were raised and three words echoed around the large ballroom.

'To the fallen!'

Harry smiled, and Draco came forward to stand next to him, 'Let the party begin!'

There were cheers as the band behind them started to play and Harry and Draco left the stage to get to their girlfriends. Draco patted Harry on the back, 'you were brilliant.'

'There were no reporters,' Harry remarked, thinking of the times he had frozen giving speeches and statements to huge crowds of fans and reporters.

'How wrong you are,' a voice behind Harry said, making his eyes narrow, he'd recognise that voice anywhere. He spun around, 'how did you get past security?'

Rita Skeeter only winked, 'a marvellous speech Mr. Potter, it will make the front page of the Prophet I'm sure.'

Harry rolled his eyes at Draco who clicked his fingers causing his security guard to come running, 'get her out of here' Draco said simply and the wizard clad in black dress robes nodded, 'yes sir.'

Without further ado Rita Skeeter was dragged out of the party amidst chuckles from the crowds.

* * *

><p>Dean Thomas and Theo Nott didn't exactly follow the rules, but they didn't do anything illegal either. At least that's what they told themselves when they followed Rita Skeeter out of Grimmauld Place and managed to corner her before she apparated away.<p>

'We have something that might interest you,' Dean said, glancing behind his shoulder to make sure they weren't being watched. He handed her a brown envelope and Rita got a glint in her eye when she opened it and saw the pictures, 5 of them. The first few were of Draco and Harry standing very close together before the dance practice, the 3rd was of them dancing and the last two were of that dip Draco did to Harry that they always teased the boys about.

'I'll give you 1000 Galleons if you let me print these in the Prophet,' Rita said looking longingly at the photos.

Theo snorted, 'I don't think so. The saviour of the wizarding world and the bad boy who turned good at the end of the war; they're worth more than that.'

Rita only looked slightly miffed, 'I was under the impression Mr. Potter and Mr. Black were dating girls, Miss. Greengrass and Miss. Granger, I believe?'

'They are,' Dean assured Rita, who narrowed her eyes at the picture, 'then what is going on in this picture?'

'We don't have a story for you Rita, just some pictures,' Theo said, wary of the sneaky reporter.

'If you had a story, I'd give you 2000 galleons,' Rita said sneakily, Theo and Dean shared a glance; Skeeter _must _have been a Slytherin.

'Mate, you are not considering making a story up for money,' Dean said, giving Theo a warning look, after all nothing had happened between them apart from the dancing and the kiss that time they'd played spin the bottle.

'Okay, fine,' Theo said, after a moment's pause, 'there is no story, Draco taught Harry how to dance and we took photographs.'

'Well that's good enough for me, 1100 galleons?'

'1800?'

'1500, final offer,' Rita said firmly and Dean and Theo shared a look, then nodded, 'done,' they said finally, shaking Rita's hand. She wrote them a check and they handed her the envelope.

Rita grinned, flashing her white teeth at them, 'pleasure doing business with you boys.'

Dean pocketed the check and the two boys made their way back into the house and to the party, nobody even noticed that they were gone because they'd been too busy dancing.

* * *

><p>Inside the ballroom while Dean and Theo had been sneaking around to get a fat check, Harry and Draco were dancing with their remarkably hot girlfriends. For the first time this was a casual party rather than a ball so the girls could let their hair down a little in the way that they dressed and not have to wear fancy ball gowns. Daphne, of course, had taken great advantage of this and was looking fantastic in the skimpiest dress she could find, Harry had no objections. Daphne's dress was black with a neon green strip down each side. It stopped mid thigh and the back was entirely open with black straps across the top, it was also skin tight.<p>

Draco and Hermione looked a bit of an odd pair tonight because Draco was dressed in emerald green silk dress robes and Hermione was wearing a strapless navy blue dress. It stopped mid thigh and the chest was made up of blue, black and silver sequins making flower like patterns. The skirt was made of a transparent blue material and the sides were longer than the rest of it. They didn't match at all, but neither did Harry and Daphne.

Neville and Hannah were dancing nearby, Neville in his black dress robes and Hannah in a navy blue and white dress. The skirt was blue and the bust was white with silver sequined lines across it, it was strapless. Susan was over by the drinks table looking amused and exasperated as she turned Viktor Krum down yet again, but the Bulgarian wouldn't stop pursuing her. Susan was dressed in a controversial dress because that was Susan, defying the rules of the world to the point that they might break. Her dress had a black skirt and stopped mid-thigh, the top was long sleeved and black lace patterned in a floral style, and it was see-through so as a result you could see her black bra through it, something that Krum was clearly enjoying.

'Nice dress,'

'You're looking at my breasts, aren't you?'

'Uh,' Krum was clearly flustered, 'no?'

Susan only raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged, 'it is hard not too with you in a dress like that.'

'Are you still following me?' Susan asked, grabbing a glass of butterbeer and handing one to him too.

'Thank you,' Krum said as he took the glass, 'and if I remember you kissed me at the Yule Ball.'

'I kissed you once and you're stalking me?' Susan asked the Bulgarian, clearly amused.

'We kissed 3 times,' Krum said, making Susan smile, 'you counted?'

'Maybe,' Krum said, 'dance with me at least?'

'You said that last time,' Susan said, smiling sheepishly at the Quidditch player.

'And look how well that night ended,' Krum said, holding out his hand for her. Susan couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face as her mask broke, she put down her drink and took his hand, 'one dance,' she said, letting him lead her to the dance floor, 'you said that last time.'

'I know.'

* * *

><p>Dudley and Petunia stood around a little awkwardly after Harry's speech. The older Witches and Wizards tended to stick together in groups while the kids and teenagers danced. Molly Weasley saw them and made her way over to them, 'Hello, you must be Harry's Aunt Petunia, I'm Molly.'<p>

Petunia looked relieved to have someone to talk too, 'Harry talked of you often; he said you were like a Mother to him.'

Molly got a little teary, 'oh he's a dear isn't he? Why don't you come over and meet my family?'

Petunia went with Molly to meet the rest of the Weasleys and Dudley was going to follow but then he saw something that stopped him in his tracks. He saw the girl from Exeter University that he had been dating, Cho, standing by the drinks table. He couldn't quite believe it as he made his way over to her, tapping her on the shoulder. She gasped when she turned around and saw the man behind her.

'Dudley! Harry didn't tell me you were invited!'

'He didn't tell me you were either,' Dudley said, silently cursing his cousin, 'I didn't know you knew him.'

Cho looked down, 'Yeah, we...um...we were close, when we were at Hogwarts together.'

Dudley couldn't quite believe what he was hearing; he swallowed hard, 'can we talk somewhere more private?' he asked.

Cho nodded, leading the way out of the ballroom, which was also the drawing room. She knew the house vaguely, but not too well so she led him up to the balcony on the floor above which overlooked the whole grand room.

'I was scared to tell you, I thought it might scare you off. I only found out on Christmas Eve at the Yule Ball that you and Harry were related,' Cho said, trying not to look too guilty.

'The Yule Ball? Is that a wizard thing?' Dudley asked, clueless about her world.

Cho nodded as she looked at the party going on below them, 'It's held at Hogwarts, but usually only for special occasions. The last Yule Ball I went too was in my 5th year when I was dating a boy called Cedric Diggory,' she saw the flash of recognition on Dudley's face which was closely followed by guilt, so he remembered tormenting Harry then, Cho thought to herself, 'Harry had a crush on me in my 5th year and then at the end of it, Cedric...well, he died,' Cho said, letting out a long breath she'd been holding in, 'and I dated Harry briefly in 5th year, but he'd been too close to Cedric and it hurt too much. I fought for him in the war, and in the final battle.'

Dudley was silent as he took all of this in, 'It doesn't change anything; you know that, don't you?'

Cho had to admit that she was surprised by Dudley's reaction, but she nodded, 'I was going to tell you, I really was, I just wasn't sure how to do it.'

'Well I guess we have Harry to thank then,' Dudley said, looking down at the crowd and spotting Harry's jet black hair even from high up, his cousin was grinning at them. Dudley rolled his eyes and gave Harry the thumbs up; the skinny boy smirked and did a mock bow. Up on the balcony Cho and Dudley laughed, 'Come on,' Dudley said, holding his hand out to Cho, 'let's go and enjoy the party.'

* * *

><p>Things after that went smoothly for a while. Everyone danced and drank and had a good time. More than once students found themselves disgusted at seeing Filch and Trelawney snog or for that matter Kinglsey and McGonagall, but as of yet there were no big scandals. Daphne and Harry had been dancing close by Hermione and Draco and somehow for some reason they ended up swapping partners so that Draco and Harry found themselves dancing together. Hermione and Daphne watched with chuckles, not really sure what was happening.<p>

'You're a good dancer,' Draco said to Harry who smirked, 'I learnt from the best.'

'Are you flirting with me Potter?'

'Of course not,' Harry said smoothly, as the song ended and the dance partners changed again, 'would you care for a walk?' Harry asked, and Draco nodded, following his friend out of the room and up to the balcony that had previously been occupied by Cho and Dudley.

'Something feels different between us tonight,' Harry said to Draco, as he leant against the stone railing of the elaborate balcony. Draco nodded, walking closer to him, 'I agree,' he said, standing extremely close to Harry now, 'it's like my eyes are finally open.'

'I understand,' Harry whispered as Draco closed the gap between them and kissed the Gryffindor. The crowd below had gone silent to watch the exchange on the balcony and were gasping in surprise or laughing in amusement at what was happening above them. A flash of light lit the room up and Rita Skeeter, grinning broadly, snuck from the room. How had she even managed to get back into the house in the first place?

Down below Theo waved his wand and up on the balcony Draco and Harry drew apart, both looking extremely surprised, and disgusted.

'Potter! What the hell, did you kiss me?!'

'No! You kissed me! Why would I kiss you?'

Draco wiped his mouth, 'that's disgusting.'

'Tell me about it,' Harry muttered, wiping his own mouth and glaring at the Slytherin.

They looked down at the amazed crowd and spotted 3 faces that screamed 'I'm up to something,' they belonged to Tracey, Dean and Theo.

'Oi, what did you do?' Harry shouted to them, but Theo just shrugged, 'Nothing at all,' he called, trying to sound innocent.

'You used a love charm Theo you scumbag.' Draco called down to the ground and Theo only grinned, 'Maybe,' he said, causing the crowd to erupt with laughter, even Harry chuckled, but stopped when he saw the look on Draco's face.

'Come on,' he muttered, 'we should get back to the party.'

Draco nodded reluctantly and they left the balcony as the party got back into full swing, 'you can make him pay when the party is over,' Harry said, before Draco could say anything and the Slytherin grumbled, 'that will be the front page of the Prophet tomorrow.'

'So what? It's not like it was what it looked like,' Harry said simply as he and Draco made his way into the room to amused cheers. Daphne and Hermione were holding each other up, they were laughing so much.

'Glad you found that funny girls,' Draco said, rolling his eyes as he kissed Hermione lightly on the lips. His girlfriend made a face, 'Oh Draco whats that taste on your lips...oh wait, it's Harry.'

Daphne burst out laughing again as Harry kissed her cheek and Draco glared at Hermione, leaning in close to her and whispering, 'you'll pay for that later.'

Hermione raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend and whispered back, 'I look forward to it,' Draco was taken aback by the retort as Hermione grabbed him by the arm and dragged him towards the dance floor saying, 'come on let's dance.'

'Did you enjoy that Harry?' Daphne asked, taking her boyfriends arm as he led her to the dance floor.

'Oh yeah, so much,' Harry replied sarcastically, but Daphne smirked, 'Come on, we all know it's a secret fantasy of yours.'

'What? Malfoy? Yeah right,' Harry denied, putting his arms around Daphne as they started to dance.

'He's Black now, remember? And yes, you enjoyed it, admit it,' Daphne said, reading Harry like the open book that he was.

Harry rolled his eyes, 'I didn't enjoy it in the slightest Daph.'

'Yes, you did,' Daphne said, still chuckling at the look on his face, 'Come on baby, I'm the girl whose had affairs with men twice her age, there is no judgement here.'

Harry frowned, pausing in his dancing for a second, 'You've done what?'

Daphne rolled her eyes, 'See; now admit it.'

'Okay, I enjoyed kissing him a tiny bit. Now back to you, what older men have you had affairs with?' Harry asked, curious and surprised, although with Daphne's history he wasn't sure why he was so surprised.

'Drop it Potter,' Daphne said, smirking at him and Harry narrowed his eyes as he spun her out then drew her back to him, 'We're talking about this later,' he said softly in her ear.

Daphne only grinned, 'I can think of much better things to do later,' she said suggestively as she pulled him deeper into the throng of dancers so he could stop interrogating her. Harry wasn't sure if it was what she said or what she did, but either way he happily shut up.

* * *

><p>The next drama of the night happened at around 11pm everyone was dancing and having a good time when there was a shout from the part of the room were the tables were. The band stopped and everyone rushed to the commotion. Bill had lifted Fleur up into his arms, and was telling everyone to calm down and that everything was fine. Harry frowned and hurried over to his friend, 'What's happened?' he asked and Bill replied, 'Fleurs gone into labour, I'm taking her to St. Mungo's.'<p>

'Good luck!' Harry shouted as they left the party, closely followed by Molly and Arthur who claimed they didn't want to miss the birth of their first grandchild. The other Weasleys followed, leaving their dates behind to enjoy the rest of the party. Harry could understand why they'd all want to wait outside while Fleur gave birth, especially after all that had happened that year to the family.

'Alright, back to the party!' Harry called, and the band started up again as everyone took to the dance floor and put the commotion out of their minds. Harry shook his head at Daphne, 'so much drama in one party.'

'Hey, we wouldn't be us if we couldn't go somewhere without there being lots of drama,' Hermione said happily, 'I hope everything goes okay for Fleur and Bill.'

'It will,' Harry reassured her, 'now go on, enjoy yourself, and have a good time.'

Hermione saluted him, 'yes sir!'

Harry grinned, and they made their way back to the dance floor with their girlfriends, where they stayed until the clock struck 5 to midnight. Harry took Daphne by the hand and let her up to the stage, Draco did the same with Hermione. The two hosts and their girlfriends stood up front while Harry gave another short speech before it was time to start the countdown, 'Let's celebrate the dying of a year filled with pain and sorrow, but also with victory, and the birth of a new year, and a new start, a chance to move on from all that happened this year.'

The clock was almost at midnight so together with Draco; Harry started the countdown to the dawn of the New Year.

'10, 9, 8, 7, 6!'

'5, 4, 3, 2!'

'1!'

The clock struck 12 and it was officially 1999. There was cheering around the hall as the bells rang and fireworks went off around the room. Harry winked at Katie who was on the balcony with several boxes of Weasleys Wizard Wheezes new indoor fireworks. The room was lit up with bright coloured fireworks as Harry and Draco raised their glasses.

'Happy New Years!'

They clinked their glasses together and drank deeply from them. All around the hall people were doing the same, toasting, kissing and hugging. Draco kissed Hermione, and Harry kissed Daphne, and everything just felt so unbelievably right.

'Are you crying?' Daphne asked Harry under her breath, raising her hand and wiping the stray tear that had fallen from his eye as he kissed her. Harry looked sheepish and embarrassed, 'I'm just so happy, I didn't think I'd see it to the millennium, now I'm one year closer.'

Daphne smiled, he didn't show his emotions very often, but she appreciated it when he let her in like that, she kissed him on the cheek, 'you'll see 2000, and I'll be standing right next to you to bring it in with style,' her voice was firm and Harry knew it was a promise.

'I love you Daphne,' Harry said, not particularly caring that the whole room could see them at this point as he took a step closer to her and captured her lips in a searing kiss, she gasped a little, but kissed Harry back with just as much fervour.

'You've never done that,' Daphne said, as Harry broke the kiss to cheers from the crowd, 'kissed me in public like that.'

Harry grinned broadly, taking her hand, 'there's a first time for everything love.'

Daphne shared his smile as he turned and held her hand up; both of them getting cheers from the crowd, but the loudest cheers by far came from right next to them, where Draco and Hermione were standing with silly grins on their faces. Not for the first time that night Harry appreciated how amazing his friends really were, even when they did get a kick out of slipping him love potions.

The celebrations were still ongoing at 1am when a large silver tiger leapt through the window and onto the stage at the front of the room. When it opened its mouth to speak Bill's voice came from it, 'Victoire Weasley, born on the 1st of January, 1999 at 12.01. We named her Victoire because it means 'victory' in French and I think it's fitting giving she was born on the first day of a year without Voldemort.'

There was even more cheering as Bill's patronus faded into nothingness and there was another round of drinks too. Harry was very pleased for Bill and Fleur and couldn't wait to go and visit them and their new baby. The party went on until the last few people left at 3am in the morning, by that time Susan had already slipped away with Viktor Krum and no one had seen them since. Draco and Harry saw off the band and then locked the door and put the wards back up before literally being dragged back to their bedrooms by their girlfriends.

Draco smirked at Harry as he stopped outside his bedroom door, 'see you in the morning mate,' with that Hermione pushed him through the door and it clicked shut behind them. Harry laughed as Daphne attempted to drag him up a few more sets of stairs to the room they shared.

'You don't have to drag me love, I'll come willingly.'

'I bet you will,' Daphne said as they reached the bedroom and ignores the sounds coming from Susan's room across the hall. Daphne opened the door and pulled Harry in, 'You are in for the best night of your life.'

Harry only grinned at her, he had no doubt that she was lying.

All in all, he had to admit that it had been a pretty good night. With or without love potions that made him want to snog the face off of Draco Malfoy, or Black as it was now. This was his last coherent thought as Daphne pushed him onto the bed and pinned him there, after that his mind went happily fuzzy.

_**TBC **_


	34. Newspapers & New Life

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 34 – Newspapers & New Life**

After the big affair at Christmas the group staying at Grimmauld Place had decided to have a small, intimate New Years dinner before going back to Hogwarts a few days later which meant that they didn't need to get up particularly early, which was a relief after the late, and eventful night that they had all had. As it was the Hermione and Sadie were still up early, and took to the library while they waited for the others. By the time Daphne, Hannah, Susan and Tracey had managed to drag themselves and the boys out of bed it was just after noon.

'Wow, last night was fun,' Harry yawned, tucking into some crumpets and pouring himself a mug of strong coffee, they weren't having their meal until about 6pm that night.

'Agreed,' Draco said, flashing a wink at Hermione who for once didn't blush. Neville kept his face hidden in his cereal bowl as he asked his friends if they'd seen the Prophet yet this morning.

Both Draco and Harry shook their heads and Neville tentatively handed the paper to Harry, Draco was off his chair in seconds to stand behind Harry and see the front page. Dean and Theo sniggered quietly over their crumpets.

'Oh God,' Harry muttered and Draco's face paled, 'my reputation, it's ruined!'

'Stop being such a drama Queen Draco,' Daphne said, with a roll of her eyes at Hermione, 'you're pureblood Slytherin prince reputation has been ruined since you started dating a Muggle-born, get over it.'

'Have you _seen _this?' Draco asked the girl, thrusting the paper in her face; she choked a little on her crumpet when she saw the front page, but it was because she was laughing, not because she was shocked or horrified.

The headline shouted out in capital letters, 'WAR HERO AND DEATH EATER: SECRET LOVERS?'

Underneath was a moving picture of Harry and Draco's kiss at the party the night before and then next to the article were pictures of Harry and Draco dancing and the embarrassing dip that Draco had done.

'How did she even get back into the party to take this?' Hermione asked, from where she was studying the paper over Daphne's shoulder.

'I have no idea,' Draco said, he was fuming, 'I got security to kick her out and lock her out of the wards.'

'She's still got that bloody ridiculous Animagus form though,' Harry reasoned, 'she's a beetle, she could have gotten through the cracks of the house and got in that way. I wouldn't put anything past her.'

'Well what about those photos?' Draco asked, pointing to the ones of them dancing in the dorm, 'how did she get them? We were alone; the only people with us were-'

Draco stopped and he and Harry turned to the only people who had been in that dorm with them that day, Dean, Theo and Neville.

'It wasn't me!' Neville said raising his hands, 'I was standing next to you the whole time remember?'

'How much did you get for them?' Harry asked Dean and Theo who looked vaguely terrified.

'500 Galleons,' Dean lied and Harry snorted, 'bullshit. Come on Theo, how much?'

'1000 Galleons,' Theo said, lying too. Harry saw through his lie and shook his head, 'Come on; keep going.'

Dean sighed, glaring at Theo as if this was all his fault even though the Gryffindor had taken the photos on _his _camera, '1500 Galleons,' he said finally.

'Alright,' Harry said, nodding and taking a sip from his coffee. So between 4 that's 375 Galleons each, deal?'

Dean and Theo looked surprised but nodded, 'Deal,' they agreed, knowing they were lucky Harry wasn't attacking them or duelling them.

Draco grinned and patted Harry on the back, 'How very Slytherin of you. You have no idea how proud I am.'

Harry smirked at Draco but their pride didn't last long, because Daphne started to read the article in the prophet aloud.

'Last night Mr. Harry Potter, Saviour of the Wizarding World, gave a moving speech at his New Year's party which was co-hosted with his close friend and ally Mr. Draco Black (formerly Malfoy). In this speech Mr. Potter said he'd like to celebrate the bringing in of a year free of Voldemort and to give tribute to those who fell in both of the Wizarding wars. The party was an enjoyable night for all involved including Professor Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and her 'date' Kinglsey Shacklebolt, our very own Minister for Magic (see page 2) and orphaned daughter of the prestigious Bones', Susan and Quidditch hottie Viktor Krum (see page 5).'

'I made page 5 of the Prophet!' Susan exclaimed and Daphne laughed, turning to page 5 to read the small article on her, 'VIKTOR KRUMS NEW CATCH,' was the headline, closely followed by, 'At the afore mentioned New Year's party Mr. Krum was seen flirting and dancing with Susan Bones, daughter of the Scottish born Ossian Bones, Assistant Minister for Magic, and Marion Bones, the most famous head of the Department of Magical Transportation. Miss. Bones who is believed to be as successful as her parents and her deceased Aunt Amelia who raised her, was reportedly seen kissing the Quidditch star towards the end of the night. Well good luck to her, I say set your sights high!'

Susan was laughing as Daphne finished the article, she whistled, 'if only she knew what happened between Viktor and I after that kiss,' she said with a devious smile.

'Did someone say my name?'

All mouths dropped when Viktor Krum walked into the room wearing a pair of baggy slacks that Harry was sure were his and showing off his well-toned chest.

Hermione smirked, 'Wow, I should have stuck with Viktor.'

'Hey!' Draco objected, 'You're dating the Slytherin sex god here Hermione!'

Hermione and Daphne giggled and Krum only smiled and sat down at the table.

'Help yourself to some crumpets,' Harry said weakly, to the Quidditch player. Susan sat down next to him, 'we made page 5 of the Prophet,' she said chuckling.

'Rita Skeeter,' Krum mumbled, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

'Come on Daph, get back to the article about the lover boys,' Tracey called from where she was sitting on the kitchen bunker.

Daphne grinned and got back to the front page of the paper and the article that they were all interested in, 'At last night's party Mr. Potter and Mr. Black shared an intimate kiss on the balcony (in the style of Muggle Prince William and his new Wife Kate Middleton) for all at the party to see (see picture above). The kiss was 'apparently' under the influence of a love potion which was slipped to the boys as a prank. However it seems there has always been underlying chemistry the Gryffindor and the Slytherin from the days of their schoolboy rivalry leading up to their fairly recent friendship. A close friend of both boys told us that Mr. Black taught Mr. Potter how to dance for his opening of the Yule Ball on Christmas Eve. Is it really just a friendship or is it more than that? And what will Miss. Greengrass and Miss. Granger think of these new revelations? This reporter would love to hear your opinions on this matter reader, write to us with your opinion!'

'I don't know about Miss. Greengrass, but Miss. Granger finds this article hilarious,' Hermione said, chuckling over her tea as Draco glared at her. She smiled at him, 'grow up baby,' she said politely, kissing him on the cheek and causing the others to snigger.

Daphne laughed, 'Oh don't worry Miss. Greengrass finds it just as hilarious,' she said, smiling at her boyfriend who merely shook his head, amused and exasperated at both the article, and her.

Krum looked at his watch and muttered under his breath, 'Thanks for the brunch Harry, but I've got to get going. I've got a practice today.'

'On New Year's day?' Susan asked, shocked. Krum nodded, 'it's a tough world. You'll find out when you become the new Holyhead Harpies beater,' he added, winking at her, 'Rosalyn Burns is leaving in June and I'll put in a good word for you.'

Susan grinned, 'Well thank you,' she said happily as Krum kissed her lightly on the lips and with a wave of his wand transfigured into his Quidditch training gear, 'I'll see you tomorrow for that first date you promised.'

Susan was trying to contain the grin on her face as he made his way out of the house and apparated to his Quidditch training.

'Susan Sara Bones, you are totally smitten!' Sadie said, reading the look on the Hufflepuffs face.

Susan smirked, 'Maybe,' she admitted, tucking into to some brunch finally, still smiling as she did so.

'So, lovers, what are we doing today?' Daphne asked Harry and Draco who shot her a dirty look.

'Well, Hermione and I are going to visit Bill, Fleur and the new baby at St. Mungo's after we've hit Diagon Alley and bought a gift for her,' Harry informed his girlfriend and his best friend. Hermione already assumed this would be the plan though so she only nodded.

'We'll come with you,' Neville said, talking about himself and Hannah, 'we're going to spend the day with my parents but we'll be back for the meal at 6.'

'Well,' Daphne said, looking around the people left, Draco, Theo, Sadie, Dean, Tracey and Susan, 'A day of mock Quidditch games and drinking in the duelling room?'

Dean grinned, 'Sounds good to me,' he said, taking Tracey's chuckle as agreement.

'Definitely my kind of day,' Draco said, leaning back in his chair and smirking, 'but I will kick all of your arses at Quidditch.'

'Challenge accepted,' Theo said, smirking at his friend. There was laughter around the room as Harry, Hermione, Neville and Hannah bade them goodbye and made their way to the front door of the house.

'Have fun,' Harry called, 'and try not to beat his arse too badly Daph,' he added winking at Daphne before they left the house and spun on the spot, arriving in the apparition point just outside of the Leaky Cauldron.

* * *

><p>When Harry and Hermione walked into the room that Bill, Fleur and Victoire were in they were greeted with a beautiful sight. Fleur was lying in bed, sleeping as she held a beautiful baby girl with glowing white hair in her arms. The baby, Victoire, was sleeping too, and Bill was sitting next to the bed, smiling at his new family.<p>

Bill looked up when the door opened and smiled, 'Hey,' he said, sounding as tired as Fleur looked, 'you just missed the family, they left to get lunch with Fleurs parents and Gabrielle.'

'We just popped by to give you this,' Hermione said, handing their present to Bill. He smiled and put it on the stack in the corner of the room, 'Thank you, and sorry for my wife going into labour at your party last night.'

Harry smiled, 'hey, it's not like she could pick the timing,' he joked, smiling at Bill and his family, 'I'm really happy for you Bill,' he said, and it really did come from the heart.

Bill grinned, looking like the excited new Father he had just become, 'Thank you Harry,' he said genuinely, 'if it wasn't for you I dread to think of the world we'd be bringing our daughter into. Thanks to you we're bringing her into a safe one.'

In a rare show of emotion Bill reached forward and pulled Harry into a bear hug, Harry was a little embarrassed as he hugged Bill back saying, 'don't worry about it, really.'

When Bill finally released him Harry said they'd probably best be off to start preparing their New Years meal for that night, but Bill stopped him, 'Oh Harry, I meant to tell you at the party, I've taken over your accounts at Gringotts, the goblins aren't exactly in the best of moods with you after you broke into Gringotts so if you need to talk about anything to do with your bank accounts, I'm your guy, I'm your new accountant so to speak.'

Harry smiled gratefully at the older redhead, 'Thanks Bill, I appreciate that,' he said, making his way for the door, 'Congratulations on your beautiful family,' he said, and Hermione seconded the motion. With smiles they both said goodbye and left the hospital.

Once they were outside Harry said, 'So, back to Grimmauld Place for a few more Quidditch games before dinner?'

Hermione scoffed, 'we'll go back, but you won't get me on a broomstick again Mr. Potter.'

'Oh I know I won't,' Harry said, smirking at her, 'but Draco will,' the smirk was the last thing she saw before he apparated and huffing she apparated after him, following him into Grimmauld Place.

Harry was right; Draco _did _manage to get her on a broomstick, but at a price.

* * *

><p>Neville didn't feel as nervous as he used too as he walked into the ward where his parents were being kept. There were a few reasons for that, the two main ones being that his parents were no longer shells and that Hannah was here with him now, her presence meant a lot to him, he didn't think she'd ever known how much of a difference it made to him.<p>

The ward was different than the one Alice and Frank had spent those long torturous years in. This one was much more homely, it was a recovery ward, for those who had just had operations and the like. When Neville and Hannah walked in it was to see Alice and Frank sitting at a small table with a chess board between them bickering.

'I won fair and square.'

'You won alright, but it wasn't fair. Can you never play chess with me without cheating?'

'I cheat whenever I play chess, don't take it personally love.'

'You didn't cheat when you played against Sirius or James.'

'Well yes, but that's because they jinxed me for cheating.'

'And you always lost.'

'Are you implying that I can't win unless I cheat?'

'That is exactly what I am implying.'

'Calm down love, it's not that big of a deal.'

'Frank Longbottom _you _are insufferable.'

Frank only smirked and at that point Neville cleared his throat, 'Mum, Dad...Hannah and I came to visit.'

Alice looked up sharply and smiled when she saw her son, she rose and hugged him tightly, 'Oh hello baby,' she said, still acting as if Neville was a child, he supposed to her he still was.

'Hannah dear, how are you?' Alice asked as the 4 of them sat down at a table together.

'We get out of here today Neville, did you know?' Frank asked, making Neville shake his head in surprise, 'no you never told me.'

'Well, it _was _going to be a surprise, but as you're here now we can't exactly keep it from you,' Frank said, smiling at his wife.

Alice nodded, 'We're going back to the house, the healers say we are cleared to use the floo, but we have to get our apparition license again because we've been sick so long.'

'That's fantastic, we'll come back with you,' Neville said, grinning broadly at his parents, 'so that's it then, you go straight back to life as normal?'

'Not quite,' Frank said, looking slightly disappointed about that, 'we still have to come back to St. Mungo's once a week for the next 6 months to get tested, just to make sure that everything is healing and working the way it should.'

'But apart from that you get to live a normal life?' Hannah asked them curiously.

Alice smiled looking happier than Neville had ever seen her look in real life, rather than in photographs, 'We can't work in a physical job again, so our career as Aurors was cut short, but we'd like to get back to work and live as normally as we can, yes.'

'Brilliant,' Neville said, still in shock at the fact that he had his parents back after all these years, 'when do you leave?'

'Anytime now,' Frank said, with a glance at the clock on the wall.

'Well, we'd better get going then,' Neville said, standing up and grinning, Hannah took his hand as he walked to the front desk with his girlfriend and his parents and signed the paperwork necessary to check them out. Alice and Frank made an appointment to come back in a week for a check up and then they made their way to the many floo grates and said the name of the house in Godric's Hollow, walking in one by one and coming out in the slightly dusty living room.

Alice tutted, 'Oh this simply won't do,' she said, as she walked around muttering cleaning charms. Frank was just admiring the house, 'Mother kept it exactly the way we left it,' he said in amazement.

'She didn't want to change anything, just in case you were magically cured,' Neville said, smiling at his Grandmother's memory, 'and just as well really, because you were.'

From upstairs Alice called, 'Neville honey, would you and Hannah like to stay for New Years dinner?'

Neville would have answered 'yes' without any hesitation if they hadn't already made plans. Hannah smiled at him, 'you didn't know they'd be getting out today Nev, the others will understand.'

'You're amazing, you know that?' Neville asked, kissing Hannah with a smile on his face, the Hufflepuff smiled, 'you say it often enough.' Neville just grinned, 'that's because it's true,' he said simply.

He walked to the bottom of the stairs, 'Of course we would Mum. Do you mind if I use the floo briefly to call a friend?'

'Of course not,' Alice called back down the stairs, 'Neville honey, why is your room still decorated like it was when you were a baby?'

'I haven't lived here since then Mum, I lived with Grandma,' Neville shouted back and he heard his Mother tut, 'Well when you're finished with the floo come up here so we can redecorate.'

Neville smiled and said he would and then he made his way over to the fireplace, threw in some floo powder and said, 'Number 12 Grimmauld Place.'

The moment the floo went off in the house Kreacher hurried to the back garden where Harry was playing Quidditch with the others, 'Master Harry! There is being a floo call for you from Mr. Neville.'

Harry grunted and was about to fly down to get it when Daphne said, 'I'll get it Harry, just catch the snitch before Draco while I'm away.'

Harry grinned, 'Thanks Daph, you're brilliant, and don't worry, I will,' he winked at her as she touched down and hurried into the house to take the call in the kitchen, she dropped to her knees, 'Hey Nev, Harry is kinda caught up in a game of Quidditch.'

'Don't worry about it,' Neville said, smiling at her, 'I just wanted you to let him know that Hannah and I are missing the dinner tonight. I know I made a commitment to it and I usually always keep my promise but my parents got out of St. Mungo's today, they didn't tell me because they wanted to surprise me and they asked us to stay for New Years dinner.'

Daphne smiled broadly at her friend, 'That's great Neville, just have a good time tonight,' she said as she leaned into the fireplace and give Neville an ashy kiss on his fiery cheek. Neville smiled, 'Thanks Daph, enjoy the meal at Grimmauld tonight.'

'We will, see you tomorrow Neville.'

'Bye Daphne.'

The call ended and Daphne hurried back out to the pitch, grabbed her broom and flew back into the game just as Harry caught the snitch. He whooped and did a loop the loop then flew over to Daphne and kissed her in midair making her laugh, 'you're in a good mood,' she said, kissing him again.

'Of course I am. It's New Years day,' Harry said simply, flying down to the ground with her, 'what did Nev want?'

'To say he can't come tonight. His parent's got out of St. Mungo's today and they asked him and Hannah to stay for a New Years meal.'

'Well I hope you told him it was no problem, I'm glad he's spending time with his family,' Harry said, shaking the rain out of his messy hair, 'I did, and do you know you look really hot when you do that?'

Harry grinned, 'What this?' he asked, shaking his hair again and Daphne smirked, 'yes that, we have an hour before dinner you know, if you want to shower.'

'Is that girl code for you _are _showering and I'm going to do it with you?' Harry asked making Daphne smack him lightly on the arm, Harry smirked, 'that's a yes then,' he said, making her blush, 'well, what are you waiting for?' Harry asked as he began to ascend the stairs of the manor. Daphne was hot on his heels.

* * *

><p>When they settled down for their meal at 6 they were all in a good mood and high spirits, but by the time they finished their 3 courses they all felt a bit fat as they lounged around in the drawing room which still needed a bit of a tidy up after the New Year's party.<p>

'God, I feel so fat,' Daphne said, from where she was lying on a sofa with her head in Harry's lap.

'I know the feeling,' Hermione said, and both boyfriends scoffed at their girlfriends words.

'I know what you mean though, we've eaten and drunk a lot over Christmas and New Year,' Draco said, getting nods of agreement from most.

Harry rolled his eyes, 'Of course we have, that's what you do over the holidays Draco.'

'He has a point,' Theo said lazily, 'we should do something to burn it off.'

'What do you have in mind?' Sadie asked, intrigued now.

'We could have a duelling competition?' Tracey suggested; she was lying on the floor with her feet up on the couch; it had to be the weirdest position to sit in that Harry had ever seen.

'That's actually quite a good idea,' Harry said, standing up and knocking Daphne's head off of his lap with an 'oomph' sound.

'Why do you sound so surprised?' Tracey asked, not really annoyed, more amused.

'I'm not surprised that you had a good idea, I'm just surprised by the idea, if that makes sense,' Harry said, frowning at his own words.

'Not at all, but then again, you never do,' Daphne said, standing up and stretching, 'piggy back downstairs?' she asked Harry who chuckled, 'what age are you?'

Daphne only smiled at him sweetly and said, 'please?' with those big wide eyes of hers.

'Fine,' Harry agreed, and Daphne hopped on, he lifted her up effortlessly and made his way downstairs to the mini room of requirement with the others. Harry was stronger than he looked; he supposed he showed that now carrying his pretty much adult girlfriend all the way through the house.

When they reached the duelling room Hermione put all of their names into a hat, metaphorically. She waved her wand and two names slithered out of it and hovered in the air.

Daphne and Dean took to the stage first, they did the walk, bowed to each other, turned and took their places and then the duel began. It was a good duel from both involved, Daphne used too many shield charms for Harry's liking, but as she wasn't in the DA she made a good effort of it. Dean slipped up by trying to deflect an un-deflectable jinx and ended up down. Daphne whooped, she'd won the first round. Dean grumbled about being the first one to go out but Tracey shut him up with a glass of firewhisky,

The next two names out of Hermione's wand were Sadie's and Harry's. Sadie groaned, 'How have I got a chance against the boy hero here?'

Harry grinned, 'Well, give it your best shot,' he said, tapping her on the shoulder and making her glare at his back as he jumped up onto the stage. Theo knew he was trying to get her riled up, he wanted a harder fight, 'Take him down Sadie!' he shouted in a show of support for her.

The moment the duel started Sadie was doomed. Harry had a huge advantage over her. Her accuracy was great but her timing wasn't and Harry could predict everything she was going to do and managed to block it all as a result. He went easy on her at first, throwing jinxes at her that she could deflect easily, but then he got a bit dirtier and easily took her down with a jelly legs curse. Theo booed as Harry undid the curse and shook her hand and the pair of them jumped down from the stage, Sadie made her way over to Dean to join him at the 'knocked out' table.

Next up were Tracey and Susan, Harry whistled at that combination, he had a feeling it would be a much fairer fight than the one between Sadie and him had been. It didn't help that DADA had been Sadie's weakest subject, the only one she'd got an A in rather than an E or an O. Tracey on the other hand had gotten an E, but Susan had achieved an O and she'd fought in the Battle of Hogwarts so it was going to be interesting. Dean and Daphne had both gotten O's but Dean had the practical experience from the Battle of Hogwarts so he had been slightly surprised that Daphne had won, but it had been a close call.

Susan looked way too eager and sneaky as she looked into Tracey's eyes and took her place at the end of the podium. The moment the duel began Harry knew it was going to be close. They didn't use the ordinary spells, Susan used the charm 'avis' sending a flock of birds at Tracey that she destroyed swiftly with an Incarcerous spell. After that it became quick fire and it was hard to keep track of who was sending what spell.

'Confringo!'

'Deprimo!'

'Titillando!'

'Expulso!''

Finally Susan ended the duel with, 'Adficio!'

The spell was un-blockable and it weakened the victim, making Tracey gasp and fall to the ground, feeling weak. Susan hurried over to her, muttering the counter curse and handing her a bar of chocolate.

'Fair duel,' Tracey said, as she caught her breath, stood up and shook Susan's hand. Harry was very impressed and once Tracey had joined Dean and Sadie at their table he mumbled to Susan, 'you sure you want to waste that talent on a Quidditch field?'

Susan smiled, 'I fully intend to go into Auror training after Hogwarts, Viktor said I wanted to Quidditch, not me,' she smirked at him and he chuckled, '_you_ should have been a Slytherin,' he said as two more names emerged from Hermione's wand. This time her name was one of them, the other was Theo's, the match made Harry grin, Theo looked confident like he knew he would win, but Hermione was one of the best duellers Harry had ever seen and knew she could be a fine Auror if she actually _wanted _to become one.

The duel began quite fair and even. Hermione sent a stinging hex at Theo who blocked it and sent a bat-bogey hex her way which she blocked easily. This dance went on a little longer, and then Hermione got bored and Harry grinned, when Hermione got bored the duel got interesting.

'Relashio!'

'Rictusempra!'

'Petrificus Totalus!'

'Locomotor Mortis!'

'Stupefy!'

'Expelliarmus!'

Hermione finished Theo with, 'Glacius!' which froze the ground he was standing on causing him to slip, then she threw a fast Petrificus Totalus at Theo and there was cheering all round that Hermione had won. She grinned, turning the ground beneath him back to normal and taking the charm off. Theo got up, looking embarrassed as he brushed off the dirt on his jumper.

'You got beat by a girl Theo!'

Theo glared at Daphne, 'I clearly _let _her win Daphne,' he said, jumping off the stage.

Hermione snorted, 'Hah! You can never admit defeat can you?'

'Not when I knowingly lost,' Theo said, pouring himself a glass of firewhiskey and sitting down at the losers table.

'Just admit it Theo, I'm Harry Potter's best friend; I'm a damn good dueller.'

Theo shook his head, too proud to acknowledge it; Hermione only shake her head, laughing at how irritating and insufferable he could be.

'You did only get an E in DADA,' Theo said to Hermione, 'the only subject you didn't get an O in...'

Hermione glared at him, 'Theo, you only got an E too, stop the bullshit.'

'Alright,' Theo said, looking scared as not only Hermione, but Draco and Harry too, advanced on him, 'the bullshit is stopping!'

The next two names to come out of the wand were Daphne and Draco's, Harry grinned and Hermione chuckled as they made their way up to the platform. As Daphne passed him Harry muttered, 'Just think of this as your payback for the way he broke up with you.'

Daphne smirked, 'its sweet moments like this that I love about us,' she joked, turning to Draco. They went through the motions and then the duel started. It was nothing if it wasn't interesting, that was for sure.

'Tarantallegra!'

'Levicorpus!'

'Furnunculus!'

'Densaugeo!'

Every single spell the other threw was blocked instantly, Daphne's overuse of blocking spells in her first duel worked to her advantage in this one because Draco was an excellent dueller, his accuracy and timing were immaculate; Harry observed this carefully, these were the things that were important to remember if he was going to bend the rules to get Draco into the Auror training programme.

Then the more interesting spells came out, the ones they'd invented themselves or that were fairly rare and only found in the strange textbooks people like Hermione and Draco picked up for 'light' reading. Daphne shot a nasty one at Draco (adflicto!) which crushed bones, thankfully he dodged it, but the spell he shot back at his ex-girlfriend was just as nasty as it blinded the victim, (caecus!)

'Oi, Draco, Daphne, keep it clean!'

'I was only going to crush his wrist!'

I was only going to blind her for a minute!'

Harry shook his head in amusement at them as they continued on regardless. The duel finally came to an end, it had been the longest yet, but Daphne slipped up and Draco took advantage of it. He'd thrown a simple spell at her and she'd cast her shield charm too late, the second she let it down the spell hit her, luckily all it did was throw her back and hurt her pride, but Draco had won that round and Daphne was now knocked out. The Slytherin girl didn't take losing well, just like Draco didn't take winning well, Daphne stalked over to the 'loser' table and poured herself a large firewhiskey while Draco did a victory lap and kissed Hermione.

His joy didn't last long when he saw Hermione's name come out of her wand, followed by his own name. Harry whistled, he really couldn't call this one, but he knew it would be a good duel to watch.

Draco and Hermione were glaring at each other in a way that they hadn't since they were much younger as they took their places, did their bows and got ready for the duel to begin. It was eye-catching right from the start. They both had amazing accuracy and timing, perfect spell casting all round, it was going to be a matter of who slipped up first.

They skipped the mediocre jinxes and jumped right in with spells and curses flying between them at record speed. This was a professional duel if Harry had ever seen one.

Hermione used Oppugno to cause the chairs to attack Draco. He smirked as he set them on fire and sent them back at her. Hermione cursed and used Aguamenti to put the flames on, holding a shield charm as she did so. Then she sent the chairs back to their rightful place and sent a slug-vomiting hex which he dodged easily.

'That all you got Granger?'

Harry laughed from his spot on the floor watching the duel, _taunting Hermione in a duel Draco? _Harry thought to himself, _good luck with that..._

Hermione narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend and threw a curse at him, 'Impetus!'

'Watch it Hermione, no setting fire to people's clothes!'

'Killjoy!' Hermione called back, blocking Draco's bone breaking curse and sticking her tongue out at her friend.

'Codo!'

Hermione swore at the un-blockable curse and jumped as the beam of light shot under her legs. The curse made your legs give way and if it had hit her she'd have gone down and Draco would have won his victory. Draco was surprised that she had managed to avoid the spell, but that only made him more determined. The spells got more elaborate and then Draco finally caught a break when he shot an arrow out of his wand which penetrated her shield charm and hit her in the chest, knocking her down. The moment Harry declared Draco the winner he rushed to his girlfriend and muttered, 'Aversa pars,' to reverse the spell, it worked and the arrow vanished.

Hermione sat up, taking a deep breath, 'You play dirty Draco,' she whispered and Draco grinned, 'if you can play dirty in the bedroom, I can play dirty on the duelling platform,' he said with a wink and she got a devious look in her eyes that scared Draco and turned him on at the same time. Hermione then jumped down from the platform and joined the others at the table. There were only 3 people left in the competition now, Draco, Harry and Susan.

The wand chose again and Draco was up for his 3rd duel in a row, only this would be his toughest yet because it was against Harry Potter, the registered number 3 on the list of the world's best duellers (he had yet to overtake Minerva McGonagall and Kingsley Shacklebolt, but he would one day, he was ambitious).

'Keep an eye out so we don't kill each other Mione,' Harry called, climbing onto the platform, bowing to Draco and taking his place. Hermione announced the start of the duel and right away it blasted off, literally.

'Expulso!'

'Incendio!'

'Rictusempra!'

Harry was getting nowhere like this, he needed to shock Draco, it was the only way to get to him, so he changed his tactics. He first muttered a spell to disable Draco's 'protego' shield and as he was pretty sure that was the only shield charm he knew he hoped this would help him out. Then he shouted, 'Fimus!' the spell did no damage, except to Draco's pride because it dumped dung on him, making him cough and splutter out the word, 'Tergeo!' and clean himself up. The spell had surprised Draco which was what Harry needed as he shot a simple stupefy his way which he dodged and put up a stronger shield charm with the incantation, 'Tutis!

Harry had missed his chance this time, but he'd get him again, they duelled for a little longer, dodging every and any charm, spell or curse thrown their way until Harry shot a spell at Draco which made the floor beneath him rotate, he slipped but didn't fall, but it was enough for Harry to break down his shield in a couple of charms and hit him with, 'Stupefy!' before he could put another shield charm.

There were cheers from Hermione and Susan, but boo's from the Slytherins as Harry made his way over to Draco and used enervate to wake him up. He reluctantly shook his hand, 'You duel well,' he said, 'I hope you'll be my partner when we become Aurors.'

Harry grinned, 'I agree, I'd feel safe knowing you had my back if you duel like that,' Draco grinned back, 'you too,' he said and Hermione and Daphne started to sing loudly, the others joining in just to annoy Draco and Harry.

'I wanna stand with you on a mountain. I want to bathe with you in the sea. I wanna lay like this forever, until the sky falls down on me.'

Draco jumped off of the platform, 'What on Earth are you singing?' Harry asked his girlfriend who shrugged, 'Muggle music, a band called Savage Garden; Mione gave me some of their music.'

Draco rolled his eyes at Hermione who grinned, 'Harry, it's the final and you are up against Susan.'

'Bring it on,' Harry said, flashing a smile at Susan who grinned somewhat evilly as she climbed up onto the other end of the platform. They walked forward, bowed, walked back and took their places and Hermione kept watch again. She announced the start of the duel and Harry didn't quite know what to expect. He didn't know Susan's duelling technique too well, and it was because she didn't have one, she ran on instinct which made her an excellent dueller because Harry literally couldn't predict what she was going to do next.

It started out with easy enough spells, she liked Stupefy and Relashio, but she soon learned Harry could block them too easily so she changed her tactics and started using more advanced spells, but Harry still deflected them casually, like this wasn't difficult for him in anyway. He could see Susan was getting frustrated and hoped that would work to his advantage, it nearly did as he almost tripped up her up with an un-blockable but simple trip jinx, but she caught it just in time and jumped to avoid it.

After that the battle got fast and frantic.

'Expelliarmus!'

'Incarcerous!'

'Deprimo!'

'Levicorpus!'

Then Susan surprised Harry which was what got her an advantage over him, 'Sectumsempra!'

He blocked the curse, because he knew how too, it was kind of his spell, 'Oi! Don't use my own spells against me!'

'It's not your spell, its Snape's!' Susan shouted back, at the same as she blocked his, 'Stupefy!'

'How do you know that it was Snape's?' Harry asked, completely bemused.

Susan winked, 'They don't call me the rebellious Hufflepuff for no reason,' she said, adding, 'Relashio!' and Harry was so surprised he almost forgot to block, 'Tutis!'

'Plus, you heard him say I look like Lily,' Susan shouted, as she blocked his curse and sent one back that he blocked just as easily.

'That's disgusting, Extorqueo!' Harry shouted, but Susan dodged the spell and Harry got shouted at.

'That's a torture spell Harry, behave!'

'Yeah Potter, she was banging your Mum's stalker, not your Mum, chill!'

'Shut up Theo!' Harry hissed, 'Capillus Aufero!'

'Protego! Lutulentis Sanguis!'

'Harry James Potter! Stop using pureblood spells that turn the blood to mud!'

'Go Potter! I don't know _why _I didn't like you sooner!'

'Shut up Draco!' Hermione hissed at her boyfriend, turning back to the duel.

Draco nursed his ribs where Hermione had punched him, 'Yes dear, sorry dear.'

Susan finally got Harry after that, his Protego charm fell and he realised she'd disabled it but before he could put up a stronger charm she'd hit him with a spell, 'Evanescant Vestimenta!'

The next thing Harry knew he was completely naked, he looked down, 'what the hell!' Susan had totally thrown him off guard. Sadie and Tracey giggled and Susan whistled, 'I can see why you keep him around Daph!' she called to the Slytherin who barked out her laughter as she called back, 'Thanks Sues!'

Before Harry could react and was still in shock Susan hit him with the spell that finished him, 'Ventosus!' a gust of wind came out of nowhere and knocked Harry off of his feet with a thud and an 'oomph!'.

'And the winner is Susan!' Hermione announced amidst cheering and laughter.

'Hey Susan,' Harry called from the floor, 'Can you undo the spell so I have clothes again?'

Susan seemed to consider this for a moment and then said, 'Nah.'

And that was how Daphne Greengrass acquired photographs of Harry Potter running through his house completely bare stark naked.

TBC

_**A/N: I brushed up on my Latin in this chapter! Here is what the spells I made up mean in Latin **_

_**Adficio = drain.**_

_**Adflicto = crush.**_

_**Impetus =attack with fire.**_

_**Evanescant Vestimenta = clothes vanish.**_

_**Cado = fail.**_

_**Caecus = blind.**_

_**Extorqueo = wrench.**_

_**Fimus = dung.**_

_**Lutulentis Sanguis = messy blood.**_

_**Capillus Aufero = hair remover.**_

_**Titus = safe.**_

_**Ventosus = breezy.**_

_**Aversa Pars = reverse.**_


	35. Back to School

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 35 – Back to School**

The mood between the group was rather dull on Saturday morning. It was the 3rd of January and it was time to get the train back to school for term starting up again on Monday. Professor McGonagall had sent the 8th years a polite, but warning message to take the train back like all the other pupils and not apparate just because they could. This was partially why everyone was grumbling so much, as they boarded the Hogwarts Express and squeezed into a compartment together, they had to spend the whole day on a train when they could be at their destination in seconds if they had been allowed to apparate.

'It's not so bad, getting the train back,' Sadie said to the group as a whole, they all sent her glares that said they thought otherwise, 'I mean, it's more bonding time, right?'

Theo smiled, putting his arm around his girlfriend, 'It's a sweet thought Sadie,' he said, looking at the glum faces in the carriage.

Daphne rolled her eyes, 'Come on guys, it's not like we don't have anything to talk about,' she caught Hermione's eye; 'in fact Mione and I have something we need to tell you.'

Draco and Harry shared anxious glances and the girls chuckled, 'It's nothing bad,' Hermione reassured them, 'it's a project we started working on at Grimmauld Place.'

Daphne nodded, 'You know how the duelling room is also like a room of requirement? Well it can become a potions lab, if you need it to be one.'

'Why would you need a potions lab?' Harry asked, completely lost about where she was going with this 'project' she'd been working on with his best friend.

'To brew potions obviously Harry,' Tracey said, not looking up from her copy of Witch Weekly.

'Thank you for that Tracey,' Harry said as Dean chuckled at his girlfriend's blunt nature, 'but what I meant was why would you need to brew potions? We didn't have any homework from Slughorn, did we?'

Hermione laughed and shook her head at her friend, 'Don't worry, we didn't have any homework. Do you remember what we overheard Filch saying, about the experimental magic that went wrong and turned his daughter into Mrs. Norris?'

Harry nodded, still lost, but something sparked in Draco's eyes as he realised what they were saying.

'Well,' Hermione said, sharing another glance with Daphne, 'we thought we could help, I mean Daphne and I could both go into potions after Hogwarts, Slughorn says we're the best students in our year,' Draco looked offended and Hermione added, 'apart from you and Sadie. So anyway we thought about it and researched it and there are spells that can force an animagus back into human form.'

'Like the one Sirius and Remus used to force Scabbers to become Pettigrew,' Harry said, following now, 'but if it was that simple then surely Dumbledore or McGonagall would have come up with it.'

'I know, which is why we looked deeper and we think we figured it out,' Daphne said, the excitement of success shining in her eyes, 'I called in a favour with Mum and she got me the report on the potion that Abraxas Malfoy was experimenting on when Melody was turned into a cat. The potion is very similar to the one that you take to become an Animagus, there are differences but they are small and hard to find, unless you know where to look.'

The others were completely intrigued now as they listen to the explanation. At this point Hermione took over, apparently knowing the logistics better than Daphne who had only gotten an E in Potions but was good by instinct at brewing new experimental ones, 'There is a component that was added that shouldn't have been, the component was to stop Melody from being able to switch at will like an Animagus, what that component was supposed to do was to keep her as a cat for 20 days then it would expire, the virus would be gone and she would be returned to her body, good as new.'

'But something went wrong,' Draco realised, he _had _got an O in potions and had been told he'd make a fantastic experimental potion brewer if he didn't want to go into the Auror line of work, 'if my Grandfather had added too much Lethe River Water then it would cause the potion to be much more permanent, it would still expire but it would take 20 years not 20 days.'

'Exactly!' Hermione said eagerly, happy that Draco understood, 'that's what we think happened, and as any good potion brewer knows, once you know the problem you can start on the solution.'

'There isn't a potion to undo being an Animagus, and it would be almost impossible to try and brew one,' Sadie said, biting her lip as she did when she was thinking, 'in theory it could work if you reversed certain aspects of the original, but it's so unstable, and we'd need a test subject.'

'I'll be your test subject,' Harry volunteered, 'I've always wanted to be an Animagus anyway, if I become one and you test the potion on me you'll know if it's working, right?'

'Yeah,' Daphne said slowly, 'I mean if we gave the working potion to an ordinary Animagus all it would do would be to force them out of their Animagus form, like the spells do.'

'But it would be dangerous Harry,' Draco warned him, 'if anything went wrong and you tried the potion you could get stuck in your Animagus form, or worse.'

'Well then you should be honoured to know that I trust you guys that much,' Harry said lightly, 'anyway, maybe I'm getting bored of not being in constant danger.'

The others laughed, but they were still hyped up and excited about the idea of making the potion.

'So you said you've already started brewing at Grimmauld Place?' Harry asked the girls, getting back to the original point.

'Yeah, and so far so good,' Daphne said, smiling radiantly, 'but we could do with finding out more about the original potion and we figured Draco would be the person to ask.'

Draco nodded, 'I'm sure there will be more records in the library at the Manor,' he said thoughtfully, 'or in my Grandfathers old study, but it's always locked, if I could get in there I could ask his portrait.'

'That would be ideal,' Hermione said, as Daphne nodded along with her, 'we'd get it straight from the source.'

'Well I'm in,' Draco said and Sadie smiled, 'me too, I got an O in Potions too and my speciality is theoretical research, I could be of help.'

'As surprised as you all might be, I'm in too,' Theo said from where he had been watching silently as they talked about the potion, 'I got an O in Potions and I specialise in experimental brewery, if you don't want to blow up the whole of Harry's house, then you should probably enlist me.'

'Done,' Daphne said, grinning at her friend. Harry smiled, he liked the idea but he couldn't contribute much academically, 'well I am awful at potions, but I'll contribute by giving you my house to work in,' he added, 'and I'll be your guinea pig!'

There was some laughter as Neville, Hannah, Dean and Tracey echoed that they were out because they were dreadful at potions but they'd morally support the others and listen to their theories.

'So,' Draco said, leaning forward in his seat, 'what have you got so far?'

'Well,' Hermione began, turning to face him, 'the Animagus potion has 6 components in order for it to work-'

'Component 1: changes the human to the animal form. Component 2: maintains the human mind while in animal form. Component 3: represses the motion of speech whilst the human is in animal form. Component 4: changes the human back from the animal form. Component 5: allows the human to change form at will and Component 6: enables the permanency that stops the human from being able to undo the potion.'

Everyone was staring at Harry in complete shock.

'I thought you didn't know anything about potions!' Hermione exclaimed loudly, completely stunned by his sudden act of brilliance.

Harry frowned, looking up, 'uh, I don't,' he said, holding up his textbook, 'I just read it from the textbook.'

'Oh,' Hermione said, blushing in embarrassment, 'right, of course you did.'

Draco only raised an eyebrow at the boy-who-lived and turned back to Hermione, 'so in order to reverse the potion so it has the opposite effect we need to take component 1 away, we don't want her to be able to change back and components 2 and 3 aren't important, they won't do anything if we leave them in as long as we take out 1.'

'We'll also need to remove component 6, the permanency charm is the part that went wrong and trapped her that way,' Daphne said, thinking deeply about the potion.

'What about component 5? Shouldn't that be removed too if it allows her to change back into her form at will?' Tracey asked, listening with interest to the conversation going on in the carriage.

Sadie shook her head, frowning as she did so, 'No, if we remove component 1 that stops her from transforming into a cat again so the other components aren't necessary. We can't take them all out, the potion would become too unstable, we can leave them in since they won't do any lasting damage.'

'What about what you need to add in?' Hannah asked them, she'd taken Potions too, and had gotten an A which was nothing compared to the mini geniuses she was friends with, but she felt like she had an okay grasp on it.

'You're right Hannah, in place of component 1 we'll need to add another component that will force Melody back into human form, I'm not entirely sure how to do that yet,' Daphne said and the thoughtful silence that followed meant that nobody else did either.

'And we'll need to replace component 6 too or the potion will become unbalanced and unstable, like Sadie said,' Hermione added, 'I've not got any idea what to replace it with yet,' there was another thoughtful silence.

'So what you are saying is you still have a long way to go?' Harry asked and the others nodded, 'good, that gives me time to get McGonagall to teach me how to become an Animagus, I know you can help with the potion, but apparently theres a mental aspect too.'

'There is, and you're right to ask McGonagall to help. Melody is proof of what can happen if something goes wrong,' Hermione said, sounding more like her old self than she had in a while, 'Abraxas Malfoy was a professional experimental potions brewer and even he made mistakes.'

'While you're learning I'll produce a report,' Sadie said, 'theorising the possible risks and with a potion this experimental there are many. You may need to remove component 4, it represses speech while the Animagus is an animal, but in Melody's case she might come out of the Animagus form and be unable to speak.'

Harry rubbed his fingers over his forehead, 'it sounds confusing.'

'It is,' the others echoed around the small compartment and as Harry looked out of the windows and saw the rain lashing down he only felt more miserable than before and he wasn't really sure why. After all he was going back to Hogwarts and he'd just had a great Christmas and New Year. He sighed and turned to the others, asking if anyone wanted to play chess, he would lose spectacularly, especially because Theo had said yes, but it was something to pass the time until he was back in his one true home.

* * *

><p>When the Hogwarts Express finally pulled in to Hogsmeade station the 8th years were relieved, they enjoyed each other's company but stuck in a small compartment for 8 hours was too much, even for close friends. The carriages were waiting as usual and the group split into two to ride up to the school gates. Once there they began the trek up the path to the castle and it was then that they noticed something very different about the grounds.<p>

'Harry, look!'

It had been Hermione who had noticed it first as she pointed in the direction of Hagrid's hut...only, it wasn't Hagrid's hut anymore. Standing where the small, one roomed hut had once stood, was a grand two floored cottage, only each floor was about the height of two floors. Hermione was stifling laughter and Harry couldn't help but grin, the cottage was blue with a white door and white windows, it wasn't hard to figure out who had redecorated.

'I think Hagrid's new fiancé has officially moved in,' Harry said, chuckling at the sight, the others found it just as amusing. Draco, however, reverted to his posh pureblood self for a moment.

'Anything's better than that dump he had be-'

Draco saw the death glares he was getting from Harry, Hermione and Neville and trailed off before finishing his sentence.

'It might not have been big or fancy but at least it wasn't a torture dungeon,' Hermione retorted, glaring at her boyfriend, grabbing Harry by the arm and marching off ahead of them.

Draco rolled his eyes as Neville and Hannah gave him dirty looks and hurried to catch up with Harry and Hermione, 'What did I say?'

'Draco, you're such an insensitive prick sometimes,' Daphne said, shaking her head at Tracey, Sadie and Susan who had stayed with them, Theo had too and Dean didn't pick sides so he just stayed with his girlfriend.

Up ahead Hermione was in one of her rants.

'I mean who does he think he is? Insulting Hagrid like that! He doesn't even know him and he judges him on appearances, I mean who does that?'

'Purebloods?' Neville suggested, sarcastically, he was silenced by a trademark Hermione glare and Hannah hid a smile at how afraid Neville was of his friend, even now.

'You need to calm down Hermione, these rants aren't good for your health,' Harry said gently, hoping to get through to her. She let go of his arm, finally, and her voice got a little louder, 'Rants? I don't rant! When did I last rant if this is one of my rant**s**!?'

'Uh, to pick just one?' Harry asked, getting glared at, but he was used to it and had grown immune, 'that time you invented spew for a start.'

'S.P.E.W!' Hermione shrieked, 'Society for the promotion of elfish welfare!'

'Alright, alright! I know what it is, calm down,' Harry said, she was getting into full on crazy now.

Thankfully they'd reached the hall and Hermione strutted ahead, sitting down in between Parvati and Lavender who were extremely confused. Harry rolled his eyes as he dropped into a seat at the far end of the table where Neville, Hannah, Susan, Daphne, Tracey and Sadie soon joined him. Theo and Dean went over to Seamus and Blaise to find out how their Christmas had been and Draco attempted to sit across from Hermione.

'Don't come near me Draco; you are an arrogant git who thinks he's superior just because his family have children with their siblings!' Hermione said shrilly, causing a ripple of laughter to go around the table. Draco rolled his eyes, bit back the word 'mudblood' and stalked over to Harry, 'move Daphne,' he said grumpily, pushing her further down the bench and sitting in between her and Harry.

'Wow Draco, so polite,' Daphne said sarcastically to her friend who just grunted and looked down the table at Hermione in annoyance.

Luckily the awkwardness didn't last long because McGonagall stood up to make a quick announcement and it was then that they saw Hagrid at the head table. He looked like he'd had a major make-over, his beard was practically gone and his hair was short, he was wearing a brand new moleskin coat too, when he caught Harry's eye he winked at him and Harry chuckled, glad to see that the man was happy.

McGonagall made a few standard announcements and then the food appeared, Harry was starving and piled his plate high, and Draco put hardly anything on his and pushed his food around with a glum expression on his face. Harry hid a small smile as further along the table Hermione was talking animatedly with Blaise, much to Draco's annoyance, and eating in abundance.

Harry ended up spending most of his time talking to Neville since Draco didn't seem to want to talk or interact with anyone and when the meal was finished they all headed up to the 8th year common room together, Harry and Neville were at the front of the crowd and the sight they were greeted with at the top of the stairs was very amusing.

Severus Snape was not alone in his portrait, he was with a woman, a witch who Harry was sure was from an 18th century portrait in the 3rd floor, both Severus and the witch were pretty much unconscious and there were butterbeer bottles scattered around the portrait, Harry didn't even know how portraits got alcohol, but still, the sight was funny.

'Snape! Snape! SNAPE!'

'Potter,' Severus slurred, in a menacing tone of voice, 'what are you doing here?'

'The holidays are over Severus, we need to get into the common room,' Harry explained.

'Hah! Just like your Father, arrogant, stupid, cocky-'

'The one that Lily picked, not you, get over it, can we get into the common room now please?'

'Not unless you know the password,' Severus said, rather immaturely.

'Well it's a new term so it's changed, tell us the new password,' Neville said growing more annoyed with the slightly drunken potions master.

Severus made a face, 'the password is-'

'Let me guess, Lily Evans loved me?'

'No Potter!' Severus said, lying badly, 'it wasn't going to be that.'

'Right, come on, what's the password?'

'The password is, James Potter sucks, Severus Snape rocks,' Severus slurred as he tried to lean back on his desk, missed and hit the ground.

Harry snorted in disgust, 'I can't say that, Nev, do the honours.'

Neville chuckled and did a fake bow, 'Of course Harry,' he turned to the portrait, 'James Potter sucks, Severus Snape rocks,' he said.

'You got it Longbotty!' Severus shouted happily as the portrait swung open, as everyone herded into the common room he promptly fainted and started snoring.

'I didn't know portraits could get drunk,' Draco chuckled; their encounter with Severus had apparently cheered him up.

'Of course they can!' Hermione snapped, 'the fat lady used to get drunk every Christmas.'

'Well how am I supposed to know that? I'm not a Gryffindork!'

'Better than being a slimy git!'

'Guys!' Harry shouted, standing between them, 'if you're going to do this, take it upstairs.'

'Fine!' Hermione said shrilly, glaring at Harry and turning and walking up the boy's staircase, Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry and said, 'Right, so, sleep down here tonight.'

Harry rolled his eyes, chuckling, 'Sure,' he agreed as Draco hurried up the staircase after Hermione.

* * *

><p>Draco and Hermione were on speaking terms again by the next morning as they met Harry and Daphne in the common room, both in a suspiciously good mood. Harry and Daphne only shared amused looks as the group made their way out of the common room into the corridor outside, only this morning something was different.<p>

Opposite the portrait hole there was a new portrait that hadn't been there the night before. It was about as long as the portrait of Severus was high and the setting of the portrait was the Gryffindor common room, in amazing detail. There were 4 figures in the portrait, one of whom was sitting on the sofa playing with a golden snitch, another of whom was lying on the sofa with her head in the other figures lap. Harry didn't notice the other two straight away, he was too focused on his parents.

'Mum...Dad...' Harry said slowly, walking closer to the portrait. At that point both figures jumped up from the couch and walked to the front of the frame, 'Harry! You look so grown up,' Lily said, smiling at her son, James cocked his head at him, 'he looks like my twin.'

Harry gazed at them in shock; he couldn't believe it, who had done this?

His parents were painted as they were in their 7th year, Gryffindor uniforms and all, Harry glanced around the portrait common room and it was then he saw Sirius and Remus, hanging back a bit and grinning at him.

'Wow,' Harry said, looking at them all, 'this is amazing.'

'Glad you like it, Merry Christmas Harry, sorry it's late.'

Harry spun around to see Dean standing behind him, grinning broadly.

'You did this?'

Dean nodded, 'I want to go into Magical portrait making after Hogwarts, I've been making some prototypes, this was my first successful one, and I thought you'd appreciate it.'

'I really do,' Harry said sincerely, looking back to the portrait, 'it means a lot Dean.'

'He didn't inherit your skill to not appreciate everything, thank goodness.'

'Oi! I'm grateful for you, aren't I?'

'Sometimes,' Lily said coyly and the portrait couple kissed.

'Oh please,' a voice in the background drawled, 'enough of the love already, I have a hangover.'

Harry grinned, the marauders portrait was hanging directly opposite Severus's, this would make for a very interesting year indeed.

Lily rolled her eyes, 'Oi shut up Sev, you're just jealous.'

Severus scoffed, 'Hah, jealous of that scoundrel you married, as if.'

'Why'd you apparate to my house crying the day before our wedding then?' Lily asked, smirking as she looked at him, her arms crossed.

Severus averted his gaze, 'that never happened; you Gryffindors and you're imaginative theories.'

'Oi, leave Gryffindor out of it you death eating scum!'

'Potter, death cannot be eaten, Merlin how did you become an Auror...'

'Shut up Snivellus!'

'James, stop it!'

'Lily, he's a twat!'

'Sirius that is not the point!'

'But Reeeemuuuuus.'

Harry rolled his eyes, 'come on, let's leave them too it,' he said as the group began to make their way down to the great hall for breakfast.

'I figured you could take the portrait back to Grimmauld Place with you when school is over,' Dean said, 'but I thought we could get some payback for the way Snape treated us by hanging it there, just for a while,' he was smirking and Tracey was grinning proudly.

'My friend,' Harry said, shaking his hand, 'I like the way your mind works.'

**TBC :) **


	36. Plans & Potions

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 36 – Plans & Potions**

Harry was exhausted as he yawned over a bowl of cereal on Monday morning. It was the first day of classes after the Christmas break and the 8th years had decided to have a massive party the night before classes started. The others could hold their liquor better than Harry and weren't in quite as bad a state.

'How is the potion project coming along?' Harry asked through a yawn as Hermione, Sadie and Daphne talked animatedly, and loudly, much too loudly.

'Great,' Hermione chirped, making Harry wince, 'we're trying a few new things and they seem to be working, we've managed to remove a component safely.'

'Awesome,' Harry said, not really understanding and at that particular point in time not actually caring much.

'I've been thinking actually...' Hermione began, glancing at Sadie and Daphne, 'that we should talk to Filch about it, after all, we need his permission.'

Harry snorted, 'Right, good luck with that,' he said, wishing there was coffee served in the great hall with breakfast.

'Actually,' Daphne said, and Harry groaned inwardly, that voice was the 'I want you to do something' voice, 'we thought _you _and Draco could do it.'

From beside him Harry heard Draco snort, 'Not happening, your idea, you talk to Filch.'

'I agree with Draco,' Harry yawned, clicking his fingers and wincing when Kreacher appeared next to him with a loud crack.

'What can Kreacher do for Master Harry?' Kreacher bowed deeply.

'Coffee Kreacher, very strong coffee, bring me some,' Harry ordered, it was rare he was blunt with the elf but he wasn't on top form today.

Draco yawned, stretching elaborately, 'Same for me Kreacher.'

The elf bowed low again, 'Of course Master Draco,' he said vanishing with a crack that made Harry want to hit his head off of the table.

'We should really start thinking about Valentine's day,' Daphne said, to the girls and to Harry, who she knew couldn't be bothered talking to her, or anyone, at this moment.

'Daphne,' Harry whined, 'it's January!'

'Exactly! So theres only a month until Valentine's day!' Hermione added, backing her friend up, Harry glared at her, 'traitor,' he mumbled.

Hermione grinned, 'Sorry,' she said, but she didn't sound apologetic at all.

'Harry hates Valentine's day,' Hermione said to a confused Daphne who gaped, 'What?! How can you _hate _Valentine's day?'

Harry shrugged as Kreacher appeared, bowed and gave Harry a large steaming mug of coffee, he then did the same for Draco and turned back to his true master, 'Kreacher infused a pepper up and sober up potion to make Master Harry feel better.'

'Kreacher, I love you,' Harry sighed, sipping the coffee. Kreacher beamed happily and vanished with a crack that didn't hurt Harry's head so much.

'You aren't escaping that easily Potter,' Daphne said, pulling Harry out of his thoughts of how amazing coffee was and how he'd lived without it every other morning of his years at Hogwarts, 'huh?' he said stupidly.

'Why do you hate Valentine's day?'

Harry shared a look with Hermione that neither Draco or Daphne could decipher, Hermione raised her eyebrow and Harry pouted a little then Hermione sighed, on occasion they did this, had conversations without words that confused the hell out of everyone around them.

'Fine, I'll tell them,' Hermione said finally, turning to Daphne, 'Harry got a Valentine's once in 2nd year and it embarrassed him so he's hated it since then.'

'Yeah,' Harry said grimly, feeling a lot more awake and alert, 'Ginny sent me this awful singing Valentine and I got it in front of the whole school, it was horrible.'

'I did no such thing!'

Harry swivelled, 'Gin! Hey!' he said brightly as his ex-girlfriend dropped casually onto his knee, this behaviour had become common place to their respective partners.

'You didn't send me the Valentine about having eyes as green as a fresh pickled toad?' Harry was half humiliated and half amused as he recalled the dreadful incident.

'I didn't,' Ginny said with a chuckle, 'I was never that much of a poet, I wrote one that said 'Oh Harry, you sweetheart, I wish you were mine, but you aren't, oh dear, please be mine please,' then I realised it was pathetic and binned it.'

Harry was laughing as he listened to her 1st year attempt at poetry, but then a sudden thought hit him. If it hadn't been Ginny who sent him that Valentine then who had it been?

'So who sent me the Valentine then...Hermione...was it you?'

'Harry!' Hermione exclaimed in surprise, 'no, of course not! Why on Earth would I send you a Valentine?'

Harry blushed a deep red and mumbled, 'Just a thought, sorry.'

'What did it say?' Daphne asked, amused and intrigued.

Harry thought hard for a moment, 'Um, his eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad, um something about a blackboard and being the hero who vanquished the dark lord.'

At that moment Harry caught Hermione's eye and both of them narrowed their eyes, as if thinking in unison, they did that a lot.

'Hang on a minute...' Harry said slowly as the cogs whirred in his head, 'I only knew one person in 2nd year who would refer to Voldemort as the dark lord...'

All eyes turned to a very pink faced Draco Malfoy who glanced at his watch, 'I'm gonna be late,' he lied, 'got...um...a class to be in, see you at lunch!'

As he gathered his things and rushed from the hall Harry was sure the only time he'd ever seen Draco Malfoy move faster was the first time he saw Moody after the ferret incident...

* * *

><p>Monday passed otherwise uneventfully, but Draco was teased something dreadful by the others <em>all <em>day.

When the day was over Harry and Daphne put the invisibility cloak on and tiptoed silently through the empty corridors until they reached the prefects bathroom where Harry had spent some quality time with a golden egg many years before.

They talked amongst themselves as the taps ran, filling the room with scents and the bath with different coloured water and bubbles. Neither of them spotted the pearly set of eyes watching them from one of the large taps.

In fact they'd been in the bath for a little while when she decided to show herself. Harry had to admit it was a little embarrassing being walked in on by a ghost when he was in the bath, naked, with his girlfriend.

'Hello Harry,' Myrtle said, almost seductively as she popped out of the tap and floated over them, Daphne raised an eyebrow at Harry, wondering why he wasn't even trying to cover himself up.

'Myrtle, your timing really sucks,' Harry said casually, as if talking to an old friend.

Myrtle giggled, 'the last time I saw you in here you were fondling a golden egg, not a Slytherin girl,' she giggled some more as Daphne looked between her boyfriend and the ghost, totally bemused.

'Yes well, I've saved the wizarding world since then,' he remarked, leaning back against one of the walls, 'so, how have you been Myrtle?'

Myrtle shrugged, settling herself on one of the taps, she cocked her head, 'the same,' she remarked glumly.

'Why don't you talk to the other ghosts?' Daphne asked curiously from her spot next to Harry, she used some of the bubbles to cover herself up.

Myrtle seemed to ponder this for a moment before saying dully, 'they don't like me, they think I'm annoying because I cry all the time.'

'Why do you cry all of the time Myrtle?' Daphne asked, again curious, and slightly nosy.

Myrtle looked shocked and affronted, Harry was sure no one had ever even thought to ask her that before, it took her a moment to reply but eventually she said, 'because I'm dead.'

Harry rolled his eyes, 'Myrtle, it's been 60 years, don't you think it's time you got past this stage of your life?'

Myrtles eyes widened and it looked like she might cry, and at the same time Daphne elbowed Harry sharply in the ribs and he realised his mistake, 'uh, I mean death.'

The tears were averted and Myrtle didn't speak for a moment as she mulled this over, she shrugged, 'Maybe,' she said slowly floating thoughtfully above the water.

'You should talk to Nick,' Harry said kindly, 'he'll be nice to you, or the fat friar.'

'I tried talking to Helena once,' Myrtle said ruefully, 'she told me I was being pathetic for crying about Olive Hornby, she said she'd had a much worse life.'

Daphne and Harry shared a look of amusement; they were clearly thinking the same thing. Helena _had _definitely had a worse life, her stalker had killed her then killed himself and now they were stuck together as ghosts at Hogwarts for eternity.

'You should talk to Peeves, he'd understand,' Daphne said, making Harry snort, he doubted Peeves would understand anything, least of all a dead teenage girl.

Daphne shot Harry a glare and he shut up instantly, fearing for his life. Myrtle looked just as sceptical of this idea as Harry, 'Peeves hates me, he calls me spotty and disgusting.'

'He was the same age as you when he died Myrtle, he became a poltergeist because he was such a restless spirit, but even though he looks different than he did when he died he's the same inside and he's troubled too, you could help him,' Daphne explained, surprising both Harry and Myrtle.

'Really?' Myrtle asked Daphne quietly, sounding almost hopeful, 'you think I can help him?'

'I know you can Myrtle,' Daphne said kindly, smiling at the ghost. Myrtle actually smiled and Harry was surprised by how much prettier it made her, 'okay,' she said floating towards the taps, 'see you Harry,' she said as she flew up the tap and vanished from view.

'Was that true?' Harry asked Daphne, pulling her close to him again.

Daphne smiled and nodded, 'every word, now, where were we?'

Harry grinned and kissed her, 'Here,' he mumbled making her grin against his lips as she kissed him back.

* * *

><p>They didn't realise how serious their actions had been until the next evening when Tracey ran into the 8th year common room looking disturbed, 'oh my god!' she screeched, getting the attention of the entire year, 'you will <em>never <em>guess what I just saw in the bathroom!'

'What?' Lavender asked eagerly, Tracey looked both excited and pleased to be the bearer of gossip and disgusted at the nature of the gossip, 'Peeves and Moaning Myrtle, _snogging_!'

'EW!'

'GROSS!'

Several similar shouts and remarks were made around the room, but Harry's favourite had to be Sadie's response, 'ugh! That's worse than Trelawney and Filch!'

Amongst the chaos and confusion Daphne and Harry shared a satisfied grin.

However, as things happened at Hogwarts one controversial revelation was overshadowed by another, surprise, surprise. Normalcy had returned to the common room and everyone was chattering amongst themselves, Harry and Hermione were on a sofa whispering about Harry's plans for Valentine's Day; or rather Hermione's plans for Harry which he was being forced into so Daphne wouldn't get too annoyed. It was then that Ernie shouted out loudly and caught the attention of everyone in the common room.

'Guys! Listen to this!'

Silence fell across the room as Ernie cranked up the volume on an old radio that was sitting on the desk next to his charms homework.

'Ernie! How are you using that? Muggle technology doesn't work in Hogwarts!' Hermione exclaimed in surprise.

Ernie rolled his eyes, 'Come on Hermione, I know you modified your straightners to work at Hogwarts. As brilliant as you are no one can go from being as terrible at straightening charms as you were to a genius in one summer.'

Hermione blushed scarlet and muttered, amongst giggles from other 8th years, 'Merlin Ernie, you're so gay.'

Ernie only grinned in amusement and hushed everyone so that the radio show could be heard. It only took Harry a few seconds to recognise the presenter's voice, it was Lee Jordan.

'And today on Wizarding Radio Weekly, I am proud to introduce to my loyal listeners 4 new bands who claim to have invented a whole new genre of music that they have dubbed Wizard Rock. This music has been aired on illegal radio channels and has grown immensely popular, only now that the war is over and the Minister for Magic has given the go ahead can it be aired on real radio and I am proud to present it to you!'

Some people seemed to understand this and had obviously heard of this illegal genre of music, but others, like Harry, seemed at a loss of what the whole thing was about.

'The first band I want to show you today call themselves 'Harry and the Potters' and their songs are sung in the perspective of our very own boy-who-lived Harry Potter, who by the way was in my house at school, we were very close friends, best of friends even-'

'Lee, you spoke to him about 5 times in the entire time you were at Hogwarts together,' a voice interjected, that voice belonged to none other than George Weasley and it made Harry grin, although the fact that there was a band singing as if they were him kind of freaked him out a little, although for some reason Draco and Daphne looked incredibly amused and were sharing knowing grins and chuckles.

'_Ready?' _

The voice was familiar, but Harry couldn't quite place it, another voice replied, _'let's do this_,' and Harry frowned, he recognised that voice too.

The music started, nothing much just a guitar and some drums, then the singer started to sing and it wasn't bad, the tune was good and pretty upbeat but the singing wasn't exactly the best Harry had ever heard. However as soon as the words began he forgot about the terrible singing and listened in amusement and horror.

_Take off on my broom,_

_I'm gonna fly circles around you,_

_And there's no way that you're gonna get that snitch,_

_No you're not gonna get that snitch from me,_

_You don't stand a chance against Gryffindor,_

_We got the best Quidditch team that the school has seen,_

_You don't stand a chance against Gryffindor_

The others were laughing or dancing, or even singing along, Harry was slightly scared and Hermione was bemused, 'They're singing as if they're you?'

'Yeah...' Harry said slowly, this was possibly the weirdest thing he'd ever experienced and let's face it; he'd had lots of weird experiences in his time on this earth.

The song finished and a second one started, this one was slightly more up tempo and was definitely sung as if from Harry's POV.

_It ain't easy being Harry Potter,_

_It ain't easy being me,_

_It ain't easy having a cool ass lightning bolt scar, _

_Up on your forehead for everyone to see,_

_It ain't easy, _

_Being Harry Potter,_

_It ain't easy, _

_Being me._

_It ain't easy when you got no relatives,_

_To sign your Hogsmeade permission slip,_

_And it ain't easy when you're stuck inside the castle,_

_And all your friends get to party on the weekend._

_It ain't easy, _

_Being Harry Potter,_

_It ain't easy, _

_Being me._

Harry was entirely astounded at this song about his life which was basically taking the piss out of the fact that he spent a large portion of his 5th and 6th year moaning about how he wanted to be normal and not the boy-who-lived. By this point the laughter was echoing around the walls, Draco in particular was using Daphne to hold himself up and she wasn't much better.

There was some clapping and whistling from the radio and then Lee was back on again, 'That was Harry and the Potters with 'Gryffindor Rocks' and 'It Ain't Easy.' The band had hits in the war with 'These Days are Dark' and 'Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock.' The band is made up of brothers Colin and Dennis Creevey and their fellow Gryffindor Jimmy Peakes!'

Harry narrowed his eyes and made a mental note to storm into the Gryffindor common room later and get the Creevey's back for this. However just when he thought it was all over he realised that it wasn't and he cursed, not so silently, and got a slap from Hermione.

'Next up we have a three-piece girlband who go by the name the Parselmouths!' Lee announced and the sound of equipment being set up was heard for a second then the music came.

It was much better than the last band, better played and much more upbeat, the kind of thing you could happily dance too. It became clear as soon as the singing started that this band was made up of Slytherins, as if the band name hadn't already given it away.

_Everyone says Slytherin house is the worst place to be,_

_Why!_

_All because the dungeons are so cold,_

_And because we have to deal with greasy Sevvy Snape_

_EW!_

('I resent that!' 'Shh Sev! We're trying to listen to the radio!' 'Yes Lily...'

_And because our souls have all been sold,_

_To You-Know-Who!_

_But there are good parts too that you may not have seen,_

_Like what?_

_We get to wear green, _

_Are expected to be mean,_

_See the ickle firsties scream when we accidentally bump them in the hallways,_

_Get to goof off in potions just because,_

_Snape would rather yell at Harry Potter,_

_Yell at Harry Potter,_

_He'd always rather yell at Harry Potter,_

_Than ever give detention to someone in his own house._

_Thank God for Potter,_

_I got an O in potions,_

_Yay Harry Potter,_

_Guess Potter's not that bad._

Again by the end of the song Harry was astounded, he didn't have any idea who would sing such a song apart from one of the Slytherins he knew and as he glanced around at them all the only one who looked suspicious was Daphne who was pretty much doubled over with laughter and was crying tears of mirth into Draco's shoulder.

The second song then began and this one was the same sort of style, upbeat and fun, catchy, the kind of song that would be an instant hit. After the last one he was slightly worried about the content of the song so he slid further down the sofa when it came on to hide his scarlet face, next to him Hermione was beside herself with laughter.

_Being a Parselmouth, you do it all wrong,_

_This is a gift but we've made it an art form,_

_Harry you're like us,_

_But you could use some work,_

_Please let us help you so you won't be a nerd._

Harry was already cringing but he turned even more red at the next part as a familiar male voice spoke-sang with the familiar voice of the lead female singer of the band.

_Girls just stop right now._

_No you listen to us._

_I don't want to do this._

_Oh stop making a fuss._

_You're being annoying._

_But we've got this all planned._

_I'm walking away now._

_Girls like boys in bands._

_Do they really?_

_Of course they do, trust me._

_Oh Harry, _

_You're a Parselmouth too,_

_You're one of us,_

_Theres not much you can do,_

_You can't ignore it,_

_You can't just walk away,_

_I know you've had your fair share of names,_

_But if you join our band and help us expand,_

_We can tour from Antarctica to Japan,_

_So think about it Harry,_

_Don't you wanna jam?_

As the song finished Harry stood from the sofa and cornered Daphne and Draco, who looked amused when Harry was of the opinion that they should look afraid, very afraid.

'You started a band, and sang songs about me, and YOU helped!'

Daphne grinned, 'Technically Astoria started the band, I just helped, and Draco is only featuring on that one song so don't worry.'

Draco shrugged, as if to agree with Daphne and smirked at the look on Harry's face, it was like he didn't know whether to laugh or shout. In the end he just rolled his eyes and flopped onto the couch, sighing and resigning himself to the fact there was now a genre of music about his life.

'I dread to think what's next,' he said simply and listened as Lee took over once more.

'That was the Parselmouths with 'It's Not Half Bad' and 'Please Harry', comprised of the beautiful Greengrass sisters, Astoria and Daphne with Ravenclaw Mandy Brocklehurst on the drums,' at this everyone stared at a pink faced Mandy in complete shock, 'The Parselmouths have had previous hits with songs like 'Who is Blaise Zabini?' and 'Quidditch is My Favourite Sport.'

'We're going to take a brief gap in the music to talk a little bit about this new genre of music,' George said next, his voice as familiar to Harry as Draco's had been the moment he'd heard it in the song, 'Wizard Rock as it is now called originated during the Second Wizarding World and was illegally played on pirate radio channels to raise morale and keep peoples spirits up in all of the terror, as you have seen already this wasn't a small group of people involved in the motion, we've had people from all houses and from many different backgrounds involved in making people laugh and keeping them happy.'

'Ever since the end of the war the music has taken off on popular channels, such as this one and next I'd like to present to you an artist who goes by the stage name 'Moaning Myrtle,' this is proof that music in this genre can be partly or fully comic, and later on in the show we'll give an example of how serious the music in this genre can be,' Lee had taken over again and now another song began, the singer was female and again her voice sounded very familiar to Harry.

_There's a really neat trick I learned when you're dead_

_You can walk through walls and not hurt your head_

_Bedrooms and bathrooms are all fair game_

_So I followed some prefects and spied without shame_

_Bathrooms are great places for peep shows_

_Cedric Diggory's really hot without his clothes_

_A screeching egg's secret he was trying to find_

_He knew I was watching but he didn't seem to mind_

_Death is way more fun with bubbles_

_That's what I say_

_Death is way more fun __with bubbles_

_Mostly every day_

_Death is way more fun with bubbles_

_Myrtle likes to play_

_Death is way more fun with bubbles_

_When they melt away_

_Prefects are freakin' hot in any season_

_You know they call me Moaning Myrtle for a reason_

There was much more laughter as the song ended and although Cedric was dead the song didn't put his memory to shame, if anything it made Harry think of him fondly. Even he was smiling and as the song ended Lee Jordan chuckled as he came back on air, 'And that was Moaning Myrtle, aka Luna Lovegood with her debut song 'Prefects are Hot,' a song about spying on prefects in bathrooms.'

Harry's laughter increased as he realised it was Luna who had sung the song and the others in the room shared his mirth, some of the 8th years were even crying with laughter.

'And last but not least,' said George and Harry could tell he was smiling, 'is a duo that go by the name 'Riddle TM'. This band are fairly new on the circuit but they had a hit once towards the end of the war with a song called 'Thestrals' which was about the 5th year of Harry Potter and the events surrounding it.'

Harry frowned, there were only 6 people who could really understand the events surrounding his 5th year and he was one of those people. The others were Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna. Harry frowned as he listened to the song as it began. It was obviously the more serious song as it was slower and there was a cello instead of a guitar and the music was largely made up of the piano.

_It's not over, _

_He's not really gone,_

_It's time to discover,_

_He's been hiding all along,_

_And though you might tell me,_

_That I'm an attention-seeking fool,_

_Oh why can't you see?_

_That he's only fooling you?_

_And maybe he's really back,_

_And what if he is?_

_Are you gonna turn away?_

_And pretend that everything's OK?_

_Don't think that you're right,_

_Don't think that you know what its like,_

_Facing a man whose name you're too afraid to speak,_

_This isn't a lie,_

_He's back now but you still deny,_

_Everything I have said you're too afraid to believe._

The song left them in silence compared to laughter as it was the first serious one to be played on the radio show and Harry found himself smiling as he realised that it was Ginny who sang the song, he sometimes forgot how well she knew him. Ever since they'd broken up they'd lost the close bond they'd shared for so long, but they would always be amazing friends and if Harry ever needed someone who understood him as much as Hermione he knew he'd have Ginny. The truth of the matter was that while he was madly and completely in love with Daphne, and while Draco was fast becoming one of his closest and most reliable friends, they just hadn't known him as long as the others as had and they hadn't been there through everything as the likes of Hermione, Ginny and Neville had been.

'That was 'I Must Not Tell Lies' by Riddle TM, a duo made up of my very own sister Ginny Weasley and her boyfriend and cellist Michael Corner. The songs are much more emotional and serious rather than spoof songs and the music is very good, although maybe I'm bias,' George was saying and a small, quiet voice in the background said, 'No, I'm just good!'

'Well folks, that's all from us tonight,' Lee Jordan said with a note of finality to his voice, 'tune in tomorrow for music from Tonk's and the Aurors, The Mudbloods and Roonil Wazlib.'

With that the radio started to crackle and Ernie turned it off, chatter was restored in the common room and everything went back to the way it had been before the radio show started.

Harry didn't say anything as he left the room, making his way to the Gryffindor common room. The fat lady narrowed her eyes at him and Harry stared right back until his helpers appeared by her side in the portrait.

James and Sirius grinned at the fat lady who rolled her eyes, but appeared to be hiding amusement and a blush.

'Oh, Elizabeth, you look dashing,' Sirius said, kissing her oily cheek.

'Charming,' James agreed, 'as marvellous as ever.'

'Oh, you boys,' she said, blushing deeply and giggling.

'We wondered Lizzie, if you'd be so kind to let young Harry, our charge, here, into the common room to meet a friend of his,' Sirius said, oh so charmingly and smoothly.

'Oh, why not,' the fat lady, or Elizabeth, giggled and just like that the portrait hole swung open. Harry whistled and muttered under his breath, 'they _are _good.'

When Harry walked into the common room all conversations stopped and all eyes were on him. Colin and Dennis shared a glance of fear and both swallowed deeply, on the sofa Ginny was lying with her feet over the back of it reading a trashy romance novel upside down; she barely even glanced at Harry as he walked in.

'Colin, Dennis, Jimmy,' Harry began, looking at the scared 'band' members, 'the music is okay, but please don't make me sound like such a pathetic moaning git.'

'Got it,' Colin said, he saluted Harry then realised how embarrassing what he'd done was as he slipped down his chair out of sight. Harry then walked over to Ginny pushed her legs off the back of the sofa so she tumbled to the ground, sat on the sofa and watched her with interest as she cursed.

'You can be such an ass sometimes, I swear those Slytherins are rubbing off on you,' Ginny grumbled as she folded the corner of the page of her trashy romance book and got to her feet. She put the book on the table and sat down next to Harry on the sofa in a normal position. The entire common room were still watching them and were still silent.

'Oi you lot! Stop being so nosy and get back to your own business!' Ginny yelled and instantly the noise level dramatically increased, people were scared of Ginny, Harry didn't blame them.

'What do you want?' Ginny asked casually, eying Harry with interest.

'To talk to you about your interesting new musical project,' Harry said, as if it was obvious that he'd come here to talk to her about it.

'Ah, that,' Ginny said, leaning back, 'I forgot it was on tonight, we recorded it last week. What about it?'

'It's kinda personal, I didn't realise you got me that much,' Harry said honestly and Ginny shrugged, smiling, 'You've always been an open book to me and I jumped on the bandwagon last year with all the war bands on pirate radio trying to boost morale. I enjoyed it so I decided to keep it up, when I realised Michael could play the cello we became a duo.'

'I didn't realise you could play the piano,' Harry said truthfully, it was an interesting fact. Ginny was still smiling as she nodded, 'Mum taught me when I was younger, Hermione can play the piano too, you know.'

'Yeah, I did know,' Harry said, remembering how Hermione had played the piano at Grimmauld Place, it had kept him sane some nights.

'The song was beautiful, you have an amazing voice,' Harry told her and she grinned, 'Thanks, it's always good to have the faithful boy-who-lived's opinion,' she teased and Harry grinned, 'well I just came to tell you how great you are, and that I miss you.'

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him, 'this isn't a 'let's get back together' I miss you, is it?'

Harry shook his head, smiling a little, 'No,' he promised, 'I'm very happy with Daphne, I just miss having you around as my friend, Michaels in our year, it would be cool if you hung around the common room more.'

Ginny smiled at him in a way he didn't understand, 'That's kind of cute of you, thanks.'

Harry merely shrugged and smiled, 'Kreacher has it hoodwinked so it will let in only 8th years with three exceptions, you, Luna and Astoria, Daphs sister.

Ginny laughed, 'I'm sure Severus will fight it every step of the way,' she joked and Harry grinned, 'Oh, of course he will, but at the end of the day he'll _have _to let you in.'

They both laughed as they stood and hugged, Harry smiled at her another time before he left the common room, feeling sentimental after seeing it again, and happy that all parts of his left were now settled, there was nothing in the air, nothing unsaid, everything was out in the open and he could live his life freely.

He felt freer than he ever had in that moment as he made his way from one tower to the other in the cold draughty castle that was the only home he'd ever known.

_**TBC**_


	37. Of Cats and Men

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 37 – Of Cats & Men**

January was a slow but busy month as the girls and Draco worked hard on the potion for Melody, Filch's daughter. Whenever they weren't doing homework or at Quidditch practice they were sweating over a cauldron in the basement of Grimmauld Place. Harry had approached Professor McGonagall earlier in the month and she had begun giving him lessons, mostly on the mental aspect of becoming an Animagus because (as she herself pointed out) between them his friends could probably brew an Animagus potion in their sleep, she was right.

It had taken Daphne, Hermione and Sadie a week to do the tough part of the potion and then it sat for another 2 so would be ready any time now. It was handy that McGonagall's last lesson ended at around the same time so that everything seemed to be coming together. There was only one small problem, the cure wasn't finished yet. Between them Daphne, Hermione, Sadie, Draco and Theo were close but they were struggling with one particular part of the potion and they didn't know who to approach for help on this final hurdle.

'The problem is with component 6,' Hermione explained, for about the hundredth time in the common room. Harry sighed, maybe a little too loudly and a book collided with his head.

'Ow,' Harry said dryly as Draco sniggered and got glared at by Hermione.

'Bloody component 6, I'm sick of hearing about it,' Harry whined and Daphne hit him hard in the arm, 'Ow!' he said indignantly, he wasn't used to being hit by Daphne, Hermione had been doing it for years.

'Shut up Harry, you haven't been helping so you can't complain,' Daphne told him with a firm glare before turning to the others, 'but the problem isn't removing the component, that's not going to be difficult at all, replacing it is the issue and we can't-'

'Replace it until you know what to replace it with,' Harry finished, sighing and muttering, 'I'm going to get an O in Potions after this.'

He got hit on the head from two directions, 'Ow.'

'I'm just fed up,' Harry admitted, groaning, 'I want to help that poor girl and nothing we're doing seems to be working. This time tomorrow I'll be an Animagus and you don't even have anything to test on me.'

'I don't know what else to do,' Sadie admitted, sighing and letting her head drop into her hands.

'We need outside help,' Theo said firmly, they'd needed it for a little while but they were all too stubborn to ask for help, bloody combination of Gryffindor and Slytherin, it was lethal.

'But who can we ask?' Hermione asked, despairing and racking her brains, 'who has extensive knowledge of experimental potions?'

Draco caught Harry's eye and they both looked at the portrait hole, it dawned on them that the answer had been on their doorstep the whole time, 'Shit!'

'What?' Daphne asked sharply, tempers and tensions were high at the moment.

'Snape!' Harry and Draco said in unison and the others gaped, how _the _hell had they _not _noticed that their ex potions master could have helped all along?

They all stood up as one and hurried out of the common room to talk to the portrait of Severus Snape who was currently sulking and glaring at Lily and James as they snogged in the portrait across from him. Harry was sure he saw Remus and Sirius jump apart and rush to opposite sides of the portrait when the group walked out of the common room.

'Potter,' Severus drawled, 'what do you want?'

Harry shared a glance with the others, why was he supposed to do all the speaking?

'We need your help Severus,' Daphne piped up, 'we're working on a potion to cure someone and we've nearly got the cure, we're just stuck with the last component.'

Severus sneered at them, 'with a mudblood like Granger helping you no wonder you aren't making any progress.'

The group ignored this and Hermione said, 'Professor we hoped you'd be able to shed some light on it for us, this cure could really help a poor innocent girl.'

'Don't flatter yourself girl,' Severus snapped, 'I know you're trying to cure the Filch girl.'

'Don't you want her to be cured?' Sadie asked, she seemed quite horrified by Snape's nastiness, while alive he'd only been like that with Gryffindors.

Severus only sneered and Harry glared at him, 'Stop being a selfish git, I know it's in your nature but try and repress it for 5 seconds and actually do something good for human kind.'

'I saved your life, you ungrateful brat,' Severus bit back.

'Because you loved my dead Mum, you selfish tosser. Now you have a chance to redeem yourself, so get redeeming,' Harry said sharply and Severus was silent for a moment.

'What seems to be the problem?'

Hermione began to explain the problem, about how they knew how to remove component six but that they didn't know what to replace it with and that if they didn't the potion would go boom and etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!

Snape sneered, yet again, 'As much as I'd be _honoured _to help perfect Potter and his little group with yet another hero mission, I'm afraid I won't be aiding you in this quest.'

'Why not!' Draco asked, shocked, annoyed and indignant.

'Because,' a female voice said from behind them, 'he doesn't _know _what to do.'

'Hah!' Severus retorted, 'as if a mudblood would know and _I _wouldn't.'

Lily Evans was right at the front of her portrait, green eyes narrowed and red hair flaring, she crossed her arms, 'Severus Snape, if you knew what to do you'd delight in telling them about it so that you seemed fantastic and clever and they seemed puny. _You _don't know the answer.'

'And you do?' Severus asked, as if he was finding this impossible to believe although he knew on occasion Lily had outsmarted him, in fact truthfully it was more often than on occasion...

'I have an inkling,' Lily admitted disappearing from view for a second and appearing in Severus's portrait, the potions master looked alarmed.

'Uh, hi,' he said, sounding like an awkward teenager. The group of 8th years sniggered.

Lily rolled her eyes, 'and an inkling is more than you have, oh fantastic godly potions master,' Severus shut up and his cheeks turned a fantastic shade of scarlet.

'What's your idea Mum?' Harry asked eagerly, Severus sneered at the word 'mum' and this made Harry smirk a little.

Lily beamed at her son, 'The issue is finding something to replace the permanency charm, I think you may have missed the solution for want of trying too hard. The solution is likely very simple. Surely you can replace the permanency charm with _another _permanency charm, a permanency charm that will keep the _human _form as the permanent form.'

There was stunned silence and many different reactions.

'Lily...you are a genius.'

Lily smirked at the potions master, 'pity I'm a mudblood really,' she retorted.

'I didn't understand a word she said, but it sounded good,' Harry turned to the experts of the group, 'it was good, right?'

'It was brilliant,' Draco said as Daphne gaped at Lily in amazement. Lily blushed a little and James grinned proudly from the other portrait while Sirius and Remus stuck their tongues out and made faces at Severus.

'So that will work?' Theo asked, looking around them all.

Sadie nodded eagerly, 'Not only will it work, it will work quickly, we can have the potion finished by _tomorrow_.'

The night ended on good terms all and all, it was Friday night and everyone apparated to Grimmauld Place to finish the potion. The job was largely done by Daphne, Hermione and Sadie, for the most part Harry, Draco and Theo sat by the bar drinking firewhiskey, although Draco kept off the drink because Slytherin had a Quidditch match the next day with Ravenclaw.

The 'EUREKA' moment came sometime before 2am in the morning; the potion was _finally _finished, now all they needed to do was talk to Filch about it and get his permission which they thought might actually be harder than brewing the bloody potion had been, but then again with Trelawney on their side... well it could go either way.

They decided to hit the hay so the Slytherin members of the group would be on their game for the match and they felt good when they lay down in bed that night, after a month of hard work everything was finally paying off.

* * *

><p>They were up early on Saturday morning so they could get back to school without getting caught. They had learned their lesson after their wild night out in Edinburgh, if they were leaving Hogwarts without permission; they did it much more sneakily now. They skunked into the great hall at breakfast and ate quietly, the table tense as it also was before Quidditch games. The group then made their way out to the pitch, wishing good luck to their Slytherin friends Harry, Neville, Hannah and Susan made their way into the stands to make sure they would get a good view of the match.<p>

It started out fairly average, a pretty good game to begin with.

The commentator was Hermione again and as per usual it gave everyone a good laugh, especially with Colin on the sound since Luna was playing in the game.

'Daphne is flying towards the hoops and she looks like she's going to score...oh, oh, go Daphne! Sorry Professor – Yes, she's scored!'

'_Pour some sugar on me, ooh in the name of love. Pour sugar on me, come on fire me up!'_

Harry grinned at this matches goal song for Slytherin; it had been 'Bad to the Bone' in the last match. He saw Daphne chuckling and shaking her head as she sped away from the goals.

'Oh and now Sadie has the quaffle, wait, Daphne, Sadie, oh no Tracey, wait no Daphne, and Tracey and she's on her way to the goals, oh she's going to score, come on Tracey!' Hermione was jumping up and down on her seat; she was such a closet Quidditch fan.

'Yes, and she's scored! 20-0!'

'Oi Granger, what side are you supporting?' Terry Boot asked jokingly as he flew past the commentary box.

Hermione grinned, 'Slytherin, my boyfriend's the captain, sorry Terry!'

'Ah, no worries!' Terry said laughing as he flew off into the distance.

10 minutes into the match Slytherin were 50 points up and doing well, then Ravenclaw upped their game.

'Padma has the quaffle and she's heading for the hoops, oh no, Draco's blocking her, Draco that is _not _your job, look for the bloody snitch! Oh sorry Professor. Oh no Padma dropped the quaffle, but wait Luna has it and she...oh my god, she scored! Well done Luna! 50-10!'

'_Live fast and die young, all we are looking for is hope and glory. Cause I was born to run, theres not a boring page in my life story.'_

Harry was shaking his head in amusement and smiling at the same time as the song played. After that Ravenclaws game was kind of off again and after half an hour of play the score was at a dismal 90-20 to Slytherin, after Luna's goal, Padma had scored but there hadn't been much else. Between them Daphne, Sadie and Tracey had been throwing the quaffle through the golden hoops at record speed, but then it all went sour.

'Draco's seen something; he's going after the snitch, go baby!' McGonagall didn't bother telling her off as she jumped up and down on her seat, again, 'he nearly has it – oh my god! DRACO! MADAM HOOCH HE'S HURT! TIME-OUT!'

Madam Hooch blew her whistle for a time out; Hermione dropped her megaphone and ran as fast as she could to the pitch. Draco had been hit on the back of the head with a bludger sent his way by Michael Corner who was currently getting yelled at and hit by Ginny for the accident. Hermione reached the pitch and knelt down on the cold wet grass next to Draco who was in a makeshift stretcher looking dazed and confused.

'Mione,' Draco sighed when Hermione reached him, she smiled weakly at him, 'You're going to the hospital wing Draco, you're going to miss the end of the game.'

'P...P...Potter...'

'What about Harry?' Hermione asked gently, taking Draco's hand in her own. The Slytherin team chose this moment to arrive on the scene and dismount their broomsticks.

'I want Potter...' Draco said weakly.

'Now Draco, you're not dying, no need to confess your love for the boy-who-lived,' Theo said from his spot behind the injured captain.

'Who wants me?' Harry asked appearing on the scene with Neville hot at his heels.

'Draco,' Daphne said casually and Harry snorted, 'wow, he must have been hit pretty hard.'

'I know right,' Daphne said, 'who'd willingly want you,' Harry shot her a grin and winked when the others weren't looking.

'Guys,' Draco said dryly, 'I'm trying to give my dying speech here.'

'Draco you aren't dying, you bloody drama Queen,' Neville retorted with a snigger and even in a dazed state he managed to glare at the Gryffindor, 'shut up fatbottom.'

'Still so original,' Neville mumbled and Draco cleared his throat, 'Harry...I can't finish, I...need...you...to...go...on...for...me.'

With that his eyes slid shut. Hermione screamed, 'OH MY GOD HE'S DEAD!'

Madam Pomfrey chose that point to hurry over to Draco, she did a few quick checks, 'No, he's just fallen asleep.'

There was laughter around the group and only Hermione seemed genuinely concerned about the boy. Theo turned to Harry, 'Well you heard the dying mans words Harry, grab Queen Malfoys broom and join in.'

Harry shrugged and grabbed the broom, 'okay,' he said simply, climbing onto the broom and feeling it buzz underneath him. It sensed he wasn't its owner, he tapped it and said, 'um, hey, I'm Draco's friend, I'm going to win the match for him,' was he actually talking to a broomstick? It seemed to believe him as it buzzed happily and didn't feel so uncomfortable.

Draco was hurried from the pitch and Hermione, of course, went with him, McGonagall it seemed had reluctantly, _very _reluctantly, let Colin do the commentating because there was no one else. She then appeared angrily on the pitch, 'Potter! What do you think you're doing?' She asked as he transfigured his robes to Slytherin Quidditch robes, for a moment he thought the sight might make him sick, but he managed to hold it in.

'Um, going on for Draco,' Harry said, as if this was obvious, 'it was what he would have wanted.'

'The rules clearly state that-'

Theo cut McGonagall off, 'that if a team is in dire need of a replacement and there is not one on the team that a Slytherin between 2nd and 7th year can go on, as Harry here is an 8th year his house doesn't apply therefore he can help us. Thanks for that chat Minnie, I really feel like we understood each other.'

McGonagall looked like smoke might come out of her ears as her face gradually turned from red to violet; Harry hadn't seen a transition so spectacular since Uncle Vernon.

'Theodore Roosevelt Nott! Private detention cleaning up cat hair from my quarters for a _month_!'

She turned on her heel and stormed away, muttering, 'I'm changing this bloody rulebook.'

'Your middle name is _Roosevelt_? Seriously? Roosevelt?!'

Theo rolled his eyes, 'He was the first Wizarding President and my Mum was a Wizarding Historian,' as he mounted his broom Harry flew behind him laughing his head off and occasionally shouting things like, 'okay over there Roosevelt?'

The game ended 3 seconds after Hooch had blown the whistle, Harry caught the snitch in record time and Slytherin won 240-20.'

* * *

><p>When the match ended the Slytherins (+ Harry, Neville and Dean) made haste and hurried up the frosty lawn and then a dozen staircases to the hospital wing to check on Draco.<p>

When they got there Madam Pomfrey reluctantly let them in and made it clear that they only had half an hour and that they need to be quiet because Draco needed his rest. As the group approached Draco's bed they saw Hermione sitting on the edge of it, holding his hand and smiling as he said something to her.

Harry thought it was quite sweet and was going to suggest to the others that they should come back later and give Hermione and Draco some time together. However Theo was already striding towards Draco's hospital bed and Harry dreaded to think what he might do.

'Oi Granger,' Theo said, fairly loudly, 'get away from my man.'

Hermione rolled her eyes, 'Oh Theo,' she said, shaking her head as she jumped off the bed. Draco raised an eyebrow at Theo as he hugged him tightly and said, 'the accident back there made me realise how much I love you but I had to go on.'

'Right, thanks for that Theo,' Draco said dryly, vaguely amused at his best friends behaviour.

'I was a little worried,' Theo added in an undertone to Draco who smiled and shook his head, 'You know, I almost believed that.'

Theo grinned, dropping into a chair by his friend's bed, 'you _must _be delusional.'

The others dropped into chairs by the bed and Harry laughed in amusement, 'Finished with the reunion guys?'

Draco chuckled and then winced, 'did we win?' he asked.

'I don't know why you say _we _when asking me,' Harry said, making a face, 'I'm going to need such a long shower after wearing those Slytherin robes.'

Draco glared at him, 'So, did we win?'

Harry let himself grin, he'd been holding it in since they walked into the room, 'Yeah,' he admitted, elaborating, 'landslide victory.'

'He caught the snitch seconds after he got on your broom, which seems to like him by the way,' Tracey informed Draco, smirking at her choice of words.

'Now now boys, settle down,' Sadie teased as Harry and Draco made faces showing their disgust and the others chuckled.

'I wonder who else Draco's broom likes,' Theo said as he winked at Hermione, the Gryffindor rolled her eyes and smirked, 'yours apparently.'

There was more laughter and then Madam Pomfrey appeared very red faced and angry, 'I said he needs his rest, not noise! Out! All of you, out!'

With some grumbling everyone stood up, apart from Hermione and Madam Pomfrey sighed, 'apart from you Miss. Granger, you can stay.'

Hermione positively beamed as the others trudged out of the room, they all needed showers anyway, it hadn't been wet during the match but it had rained all week and they were all in dire need of hot water.

Harry yawned and stretched as the group walked back to the 8th year common room together, 'we should really sort out our Filch problem at some point today.'

'I'm not asking him!' Daphne and Tracey echoed together, Sadie looked afraid as she shook her head, 'Please don't ask me to do it.'

Harry caught Neville's eye and they both smirked, 'I nominate Theo,' they said in unison. Theo groaned but then he got a worrying glint in his eye as he said, 'Sure, I'll do it.'

Harry was a little anxious. What on earth was he planning in that sick, twisted mind of his?

* * *

><p>Back in the hospital wing Hermione and Draco were finally left alone for long enough to have a decent conversation. Draco had only woken up a few minutes before the rest of the gang had stormed in. He wasn't too badly injured, just a minor concussion and a big bruise from where the bludger hit him. Madam Pomfrey had healed the majority of his wounds, but he still had a slight headache so she was keeping him in overnight just in case there was something she'd missed as even in the wizarding world head injuries were tricky to treat.<p>

'You really had me worried earlier you know,' Hermione said quietly, not managing to meet Draco's eye.

'I'm sorry,' Draco said, taking her hand, 'it was a rookie mistake, I got distracted by Dennis Creevey and his damn camera and I looked away for a second because the flash blinded me and I didn't see the bludger.'

'Don't be silly,' Hermione said, 'it wasn't your fault, it's the beaters job to stop the bludgers from hitting people, if you want to blame anyone blame Theo.'

Draco chuckled, 'oh I like that plan, blaming Theo always works.'

Hermione smiled and for a moment there was silence between them, she sighed quietly, 'For a minute I thought I was going to lose you and that really scared me,' she admitted, Draco stayed silent as he sensed that she had something she needed to say.

Hermione shook her head, as if she was trying to get her thoughts in order, 'Less than a year ago you were the enemy, you were the son of a man who imprisoned us and wanted us dead, and now you're my boyfriend and Ron has been expelled and everything is so different,' she had a small frown on her face as she tried to figure out what to say next, 'sometimes I suppose I struggle coming to terms with it, but I just have, I've really started to love the way things are, and the thought of losing you after that was horrible.'

Draco smiled weakly at her and patted the spot of bed next to him; Hermione smiled back as she climbed up and lay down next to him in the small hospital bed.

'I know it scares you sometimes, and trust me it scares me just as much. Right now I'm doing everything that was preached to me as wrong growing up,' Draco said truthfully as he turned and smiled at his girlfriend, 'I was taught not to mingle with Muggle-borns or half-bloods, now I'm dating one and I'm best friends with another and I don't regret it, but such a change in such a short time sometimes scares me, so I understand.'

Hermione shifted closer and sighed into Draco's chest, 'I never thought this is how my life would pan out after the war.'

Draco chuckled quietly, 'No, this isn't the way I thought things would go either, but it _was _the way I hoped they'd end,' he felt Hermione smile into his chest and he smiled himself, 'I love you Hermione, and I'd do it all again to get this outcome.'

Hermione's smile turned into a grin, 'I love you too Draco, and I'd do it all the same, even that punch.'

Draco laughed and they fell asleep holding each other with smiles on their faces that night.

* * *

><p>Theodore Nott didn't like to be delegated the jobs that nobody else wanted so he made it his mission to be as rude and annoying as possible when it came to talking to Filch that night. To be fair it was in his nature to be annoying anyway, he grinned to himself as he looked down at the map Harry had let him borrow. One of the perks of being allocated this job, he may have spent a little too long being nosy and sniggering at the fact that Luna Lovegood was in a 2nd floor broom closet with Colin Creevey.<p>

Theo had started his search on the 7th floor and typically Filch was in the dungeons so he trudged down there, snorting in amusement when he glanced at the map after hearing suspicious noises from a 3rd floor classroom and seeing it was occupied by Blaise and Mandy Brocklehurst.

When he eventually reached the dungeons he started to feel slightly anxious, but only slightly. He heard Filch whistling in one of the empty classrooms and without knocking walked in.

Filch was startled and jumped when the door opened, 'What are you doing out of bed?'

'I'm Head Boy,' Theo explained, 'my curfew isn't for a while yet.'

Filch narrowed his eyes at Theo, surprised a student was being nice to him and a Slytherin student at that, one who was usually rude and annoying.

'So Argus,' Theo said casually, dropping into one of the seats in front of an old dirty cauldron, 'I want to talk to you about your pussy,' he paused, 'cat, that is.'

Filch immediately tensed up, 'Leave Mrs. Norris alone,' he snarled.

Theo raised his hands, 'I don't want to hurt her. In fact, quite the opposite. My friends overheard you in a pub, we know about her real form.'

Filch didn't seem to know how to react to this, so he grabbed the desk for support and sat down shakily. Theo continued, 'We want to help so between Potter and Granger and some of the 8th year Slytherins we've been working on a cure and we're pretty sure that we've found it. All we need to do now is test on an Animagus to see if it works, Potter volunteered.'

Filch was shaking his head, 'No,' he said roughly, 'I tried every experimental potions brewer in the wizarding world when it happened and no one could help,' he looked away from Theo, 'if they couldn't do it a bunch of ambitious kids can't either.'

'Potions theory has changed a lot since Melody's accident-' Theo tried to say, trying to sound encouraging and helpful.

'Don't call her that!' Filch barked, making Theo jump, 'her name is Mrs. Norris! Now get out, OUT!'

Theo knew when to accept defeat and he knew he'd lost this battle so feeling slightly crestfallen he trudged his way back up to the 8th year common room to tell the others of the encounter. They had never expected much, they knew Filch would be sceptical and that he'd refuse to believe it, but it had been worth a shot.

Theo sighed, dreading the others reactions as he moodily said the password to Snape and dragged himself through the portrait hole. As he flopped into an armchair by the fire he was immediately surrounded by the only people left in the common room.

'How did it go?' Harry and Neville asked at the same time, Daphne, Sadie, Tracey, Dean and Hannah had all been waiting up too.

'Not very well,' Theo said honestly, 'as we expected, he didn't think a bunch of kids could brew the potion and he told me to get out without even a thank you.'

They all looked crestfallen and Theo felt guilty for not trying harder, Daphne sighed, 'Well, we always knew it was a long shot,' she said reasonably, sitting on Harry's knee in an armchair, 'guess it's time for plan B.'

'There's a plan B?' Harry asked and Daphne smirked, sharing a smile with Tracey and Sadie, her partners in crime, 'Yes,' she said simply.

Harry narrowed his eyes, 'And what is plan B?'

'Plan B is you and I go have ourselves a chat with our resident seer,' Daphne said, grinning slightly evilly.

'Seriously?' Harry groaned, dreading this meeting with Trelawney, 'Why me?'

'Because,' Tracey said, 'you're her number one student, remember?' she winked playfully and Sadie was laughing next to her, 'sucks to be loved so much Potter,' she teased and Harry mumbled something about being the boy-who-saved-the-bloody-wizarding-world and still having to do everything his girlfriend said.

Giggling the girls kissed their boyfriends and bade them goodnight.

* * *

><p>On Sunday morning Harry was awoken early by Daphne tickling him with the end of a quill. He groaned and pulled a pillow over his face and mumbled, 'what time is it?'<p>

'It's 9am, come on we've got to find Trelawney.'

'It's Sunday!' Harry whined and Daphne pulled the pillow from his face, 'and we have work to do, get up.'

'Fine,' Harry sighed, climbing out of bed and pulling on the first clothes he could find, he grabbed the jumper Mrs. Weasley had knitted him as it was still very cold even now it was the 1st of February.

Daphne seemed pleased as she grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the tower and onto the grand staircase, he didn't object but he yawned all the way, 'So whats the plan?' Harry asked when they finally reached the great hall and he was able to sit down and start demolishing some bacon.

'We're going to go up to her office and charm her,' Daphne said simply, pouring herself some pumpkin juice and watching Harry mull this over as she munched on some toast.

'You make it sound so easy,' Harry said sarcastically and Daphne chuckled, 'I try.'

'You're in a good mood,' Harry said with a smile, he was amused at how bouncy she was and he loved to see her happy.

Daphne merely shrugged, 'the potion is finished, you're becoming an Animagus tonight, it's exciting.'

Harry smiled, feeling much more awake now, 'I guess it is, it feels like 2nd year with the polyjuice potion all over again.'

Daphne laughed, 'I still can't believe you turned into Goyle,' she shook her head in amusement, 'but if this is what it feels like being on one of your adventures I can see why you liked it, it's kind of fun.'

Harry grinned, leaning over and kissing her, 'Yeah,' he agreed, 'it is, now come on, let's go talk to Trelawney.'

* * *

><p>When Daphne and Harry reached the hatch up into Trelawney's unconventional attic-like classroom it opened as if sensing them and as usual the silvery ladder dropped down.<p>

'My children, come in,' Trelawney's floaty, but not quite as insane voice called out. Harry glanced at a slightly hesitant Daphne and muttered, 'after you,' the girl rolled her eyes and started to climb the ladder, Harry followed.

When they emerged into the room Harry was surprised to find that the windows were all open, the fireplace wasn't lit and there was no horrible overpowering scent of perfumed oils, he breathed in the clear air happily.

Trelawney wasn't dressed in her usual eccentric clothes, she was sitting at her desk, with her huge round glasses on, her hair still frizzy and all over the place wearing orange robes, they were blinding but it was an improvement on her usual dress. She smiled up at them and put her multicoloured quill down, 'my dears, you have come seeking advice and my guidance.'

'Uh, sort of,' Harry said, feeling unsure how to act with this new Trelawney, 'we need your help with something.'

Daphne nodded, 'something that is very important to us,' she added and Trelawney smiled what looked like a genuine smile, 'sit down,' she said politely and Harry and Daphne cautiously took seats in front of her desk.

She chuckled at the looks on their faces, 'there is no need to look so afraid my children, now, what is troubling you?'

Daphne and Harry met each other's eye and had an inner debate on who would talk, Harry lost, 'we didn't mean to eavesdrop but we heard you talking to Filch and we know about his daughter and how you knew my parents, and we wanted to do something to help so we tried to brew a potion that would cure Mrs. Norris and make her Melody again.'

Trelawney smiled sadly and looked down at the desk, 'that is very sweet of you, but Argus assured me it was impossible to cure his poor daughter.'

'We thought so too,' Daphne interrupted, 'but then we all worked together and we managed to brew the cure, its complete, we just need to test it now and then we can give it to Mrs. Norris.'

'My goodness,' Trelawney said, looking at them both as if to read their minds and see if they really believed they had found a cure, 'does Argus know?'

Daphne sighed, 'yes, but he won't accept that we found the cure, he thinks it's impossible for students to do it when expert potion brewers couldn't,' she watched Trelawney mull this over, 'but the truth is Professor that he can't accept change, so much has changed in potions theory in the last few years that the stuff we get taught at N.E.W.T level is _more _complex than it was when these brewers were at Hogwarts.'

Trelawney was nodding, thinking deeply, 'I understand, Argus does not like to accept change, he fears it. I can try my best to convince him that this potion may really cure his daughter.'

Harry shared a smile with Daphne, their plan had worked, Filch would listen to Trelawney, 'we're testing the potion tonight, we'll be able to give it to Melody tomorrow if it works.'

Trelawney smiled proudly at them, 'I foresaw this day,' she confessed, 'when I first saw you two in my class in 3rd year I knew one day you would become a great team, I'm glad to see my prediction came true.'

Harry and Daphne had to smile at that, maybe Trelawney was a true seer after all.

* * *

><p>It was a pivotal moment as everyone stood huddled around a cauldron in Grimmauld place. The potion was bright blue in colour, like the ocean, and Harry was holding a goblet in his hand, about to drink from it and hopefully become an Animagus, if the girls had brewed the potion right. Once an Animagus the cure could be tested on him and they would be able to save Melody.<p>

'Are you ready?' Daphne asked, looking slightly anxious as she stood next to Harry. The Gryffindor gave her a small smile and nodded.

'Remember the mental part of it Harry,' Hermione reminded him, 'shut your eyes and do exactly what McGonagall told you.'

'And don't drink too fast or it won't work.'

'Don't drink too slow either though.'

'Remember and keep your mind focused so you can control the animal form.'

'And if you need help remember the gesture we talked about.'

'Guys!' Harry said loudly, stopping them all from shouting random pieces of advice at him, 'the last time this happened I accidentally ended up in Knockturn Alley.'

There were bemused and confused looks all around, but Hermione giggled, 'Sorry Harry,' she said, adding for the benefit of everyone else, 'he needs silence to concentrate, advice doesn't really help him.'

'Sorry,' Sadie and Tracey whispered and Theo just shrugged, 'Good luck Potter.'

'Good luck Harry!' A few of the others cheered and Harry closed his eyes, brought the goblet to his lips and drained the potion.

At first he didn't feel much had changed but he continued to focus his mind on the task at hand and not let it wander, like McGonagall had said and then he felt a strange tingling feeling in his toes, sort of like when he'd taken Polyjuice potion for the first time. The tingling started to spread throughout his body and then all of a sudden it stopped and he felt exactly the same.

He opened his eyes and said, 'it didn't work,' or at least that was what he tried to say, it came out more like a squawk and at that point Harry looked in the mirror Hermione had transfigured. He was an Animagus all right, and his Animagus form had to be the coolest ever, he was a Phoenix.

'Wow!' Theo exclaimed and Draco was gazing at Harry in shock and jealousy, 'Your Animagus form is a Phoenix, seriously?'

Harry smirked, or well he did inside because Phoenix's couldn't smirk, and the others went a little bit wild. Theo mumbled a spell that cut his arm and asked Harry to cry on it, he did and it was instantly healed, they ooh-ed and aah-ed. Then Harry lifted up Hermione, Daphne, Sadie and Tracey and flew around the room with them holding onto his tail feathers. After that he set fire to a couple of chairs and then closed his eyes, shut out the noise and concentrated on becoming human again, he felt the tingling, this time it started at his head and spread down throughout his body to his toes and then it stopped. He opened his eyes, looked in the mirror and was pleased to see that he was himself again.

'Can I just say,' Harry said, with a smug grin, 'that I have the coolest Animagus form, ever.'

Daphne rolled her eyes, but she was smiling, 'When you've finished inflating your head can we please do the job we set out to do and test the potion.'

The portrait on the wall sniggered, it was Sirius's portrait and it could travel through all the portraits in Grimmauld Place, 'You two sound like James and Lily.'

Harry chuckled, not offended by this, in fact it made him happy in a way, 'Oh hush Sirius, go find Remus.

Sirius blushed and muttered something about the fact there wasn't a Remus portrait in Grimmauld place, he did shut up after that though and with the fun over it was time to get back to work.

Hermione and Daphne added the final touch to the potion which had to be done right before the drinker took it and Hermione ladled the potion into a new goblet and handed it to Harry, he glanced anxiously at the smoking goblet, 'is it supposed to do that?'

Hermione glared at him, 'yes Harry, of course it is, I wouldn't give it to you if I wasn't 100% sure it was ready!'

'Okay! I was just asking,' Harry mumbled, glancing worriedly at the glass again. He put it on the floor and transformed into his Animagus form, then using the straw provided he drank all of the liquid from the goblet and he felt a searing pain shoot through him, like every molecule in his body was tearing apart, he screamed in pain but he was sure it came out as a squawk and as quickly as the pain had started, it stopped. Harry warily opened his eyes, he was curled in a ball on the floor, and he was naked, he ached a little but other than that he was perfectly fine, and perfectly human, the potion worked.

'It works!' Harry said, accepting the towel Hermione gave him and covering himself up, 'it really works!'

There were grins all round that they had actually done it, now all they needed to do was give the potion to Mrs. Norris and she'd be Melody once again.

'What now?' Draco asked after the initial excitement had passed, there was some silence and Harry replied, 'we wait until tomorrow and hope Trelawney managed to convince Filch,' it was the honest answer; all they could do now was wait.

'Then we wait,' Theo said, actually sounding sincere and mature for a moment, but then he ruined it by adding, 'but until then I say we celebrate with firewhiskey!'

There was laughter and agreement all round as they headed over to the bar to celebrate their success.

* * *

><p>On Monday morning when Harry and co. walked into the great hall they could see Trelawney and Filch having a heated discussion at the head table, Harry was glad to see that it looked like Filch was losing. As they sat down for breakfast everyone watched the argument out of the corner of their eyes.<p>

Hermione had a vial of the potion safe in her bag; all she needed to do was add the grated horned slug before giving it to Mrs. Norris to be effective. The conversation seemed to turn more civil as Filch nodded and Trelawney smiled, patting his hand gently as Mrs. Norris rubbed her face against his leg. At that point Filch got up and left the hall, glaring at Harry, or maybe Theo who was sitting next to him, Mrs. Norris followed and it was then that one of the strangest things happened to him.

He heard Trelawney's voice loud and clear, but she hadn't left the head table, it was like the time Voldemort had done the same thing, but Harry had no idea that Trelawney was so skilled in legilimency, 'Argus has agreed, we will meet you in the hospital wing at lunch, do not be late.'

Once he'd got over the startling feeling of having someone speak in his head Harry looked up to the head table and smiled, he gave Trelawney a small nod and she nodded back, smiling back at him. The deal was done, now all they had to do was somehow manage to make it through morning classes and hope the potion worked on Mrs. Norris as well as it had on Harry the night before.

* * *

><p>When lunch time finally came Harry, Daphne, Hermione, Draco, Sadie and Theo, who had done the majority of the work, with the exception of Harry who was the guinea pig, hurried to the hospital wing where they found Professor McGonagall, Filch who had Mrs. Norris on his knee, Trelawney and Pomfrey waiting for them.<p>

'You have the potion?' McGonagall asked and Hermione nodded, 'Yes Professor,' she said as she fished it out of her bag and took out the grated slugs, she uncorked the vial and dropped the final ingredient in, the potion smoked and Hermione put a straw in it, like she had with Harry when he had taken it the night before. Slightly cautious she handed it to Filch and said, 'it will hurt when she transforms, but it shouldn't leave any lasting damage. However a side effect of the potion is that she'll appear naked so you might want to draw the curtain.

Filch nodded, incapable of forming words and Pomfrey drew the curtain around the two humans and the cat. The group behind the curtain waited with baited breath as Filch got Mrs. Norris to drink the potion. Next came a high-pitched yelp of pain and an agonising groan from Filch. After that there was silence and then...

'Dad?'

'M...Melody?'

'Dad...why are you so old? What happened? Where am I?'

Trelawney smiled proudly and happily at the group of 8th years who were pleased and stunned that the potion had worked.

Filch shakily walked out from behind the curtain and Trelawney took him by the arm, sitting him down on a nearby bed, she whispered something comforting to him and he nodded, although he still looked like he was in shock.

'It worked,' he said, his voice small and weak, as he looked at the 8th years, they didn't know what to say so they stayed silent and a moment later Filch nodded, not meeting their eyes as he said sincerely, 'thank you.'

'You're welcome,' the group replied in unison and at that moment the curtain was pulled back and the 8th years got their first view of Melody Norris-Filch.

She looked around the same age as Ginny, her hair was dark brown and she had large blue eyes, she was very pretty and clearly got all of her looks from her Mother, not her Father, although they _had _only known Filch as an old man, not a young man.

Melody looked confused as she looked around, 'Who are you people?'

'It's a long story,' Hermione said gently, 'but your Father will explain everything to you, just rest,' she smiled and Melody nodded, accepting this explanation for now.

'Come on,' Hermione muttered to the others, 'they have a lot of catching up to do.'

Harry smiled, slipping his hand into Daphne's as they left the room, 'Yeah,' he agreed, feeling like he'd really made a difference in the world today, 'yes they do.'

_**TBC **_


	38. Projects & Purebloods

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 38 - Projects & Purebloods  
><strong>

By the time Harry arrived in the great hall for breakfast on Tuesday morning the hall was buzzing with the news of the mystery girl in the hospital wing who had arrived through strange circumstances the night before. On his journey from the door to the 8th year table he heard that she was a time traveler, that she was an alien, that she was the first house elf to transform into human form and that she was the long lost illegitimate child of Dumbledore and Grindelwald.

'Wow, Hogwarts rumor mill is getting wilder by the day,' Harry commented casually as he sat down at the table where everyone was gathered and busy. They had their first really big assignment due in later for Potions and everyone was pouring over their notes and essays at the last minute. Harry's comment was met with silence and he merely shrugged, 'So, last night I found Colin naked in the corridor and he told me that a giant moth ate his clothes.'

Still nothing.

Harry rolled his eyes, 'GUYS!'

This got their attention, well, some of them anyway. Draco and Theo glanced up from their books and Neville who was further down the table turned away from his conversation with Hannah. Hermione, Daphne, Tracey and Sadie didn't look up from their studying.

'What?' Draco asked irritably, his eyes were bloodshot like he hadn't had much sleep and Harry had a feeling that there was more to it than the Potions essay, Draco didn't stress over essays or exams, Harry had seen how suave and chilled he had always been when everyone else was freaking out.

'I just wanted to tell you that McGonagall is making an announcement about Melody today,' Harry said, eying Draco suspiciously as the blonde shrugged, said, 'cool,' and turned away. Harry snorted, he felt very underappreciated this morning.

Before Harry could whine anymore McGonagall rose up and called for silence. The hall fell silent quicker than usual as everyone was so eager to hear about the mysterious new girl in the hospital wing.

'I have a few important announcements this morning,' McGonagall began, her eyes flitting over the 8th years, Harry in particular, 'many years ago a horrible accident led to a 7th year girl being trapped in the form of a cat. Due to new research an exceptional intelligence some of our research potions pupils found a cure and Melody Norris-Filch will become your classmate as of Monday next week. She is in a time foreign to her and I would ask you all to be kind to her and help her in any way you can.'

McGonagall had paused for breath and the hall had exploded in excited chatter as everyone started to gossip, the last name hadn't slipped their mind, Norris-Filch, the name of Filch's ever loyal cat and his own name.

McGonagall cleared her throat loudly and silence fell once more, 'I would like to remind you that Saturday the 14th is as always, a Hogsmeade weekend but that there will not be a Ball as our budget has pushed the amount already for an academic year,' there was some chuckling around the hall and McGonagall even smiled a little, 'Finally, the 7th and 8th years are required to attend a compulsory meeting in my classroom at 5pm tomorrow night for a new project that is beginning this year. That is all.'

With that McGonagall took her seat and the chatter started up once more. Most people were talking about Melody, apart from the 7th and 8th years.

'A new project, what does she mean?' Harry asked anyone in general. Neville was frowning, he shrugged, 'I don't know but if she won't tell us in front of the rest of the school I'm guessing it's bad.'

'I just hope it doesn't have anything to do with work,' Draco grumbled, slamming his book shut and standing up, they had Herbology first thing and Harry and Neville ended up leaving at the same time, much to Draco's annoyance, he seemed to want to be alone.

'I doubt it,' Harry said, as they left the hall, 'McGonagall knows how much pressure we're under right now,' he yawned and Draco gave a small nod, 'did you say something about giant moths earlier on?'

Putting on his poker face Harry said, 'No...I think you've been studying too much.'

* * *

><p>Harry spent most of Herbology talking to Neville and occasionally glancing down the table at Draco and his sullen face, he was definitely worrying about more than an essay. Harry had sighed and mentioned it briefly to Neville who said that Draco was probably just stressing out. When Herbology was over Draco headed off for Ancient Runes and Harry, who had a free period decided to go back to the dorm room for a nap since he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.<p>

When Harry arrived in the room he shared with Draco he noticed a conspicuous pile of papers sitting on Draco's desk which was odd because Draco was usually very tidy. Being a Gryffindor, and more to the point being Harry Potter, Harry couldn't resist glancing at the papers and he frowned when he saw the heading on what he could only assume was one of a few drafts of Draco's potions essay.

They had gotten to choose their own subject and research it; they were to hand in today the first draft but had until the end of term to complete the project which would make up a large proportion of their N.E.W.T level mark. Harry had chosen to do his on squibs and why they were rarer than Muggle-borns, his theory so far was that it had much to do with rich pureblood families pressuring children from a young age. The potions aspect of his paper was made up from the fact that certain potions given to a child too young could affect their magical ability, as could certain dark magic which explains why several pure-bloods produce (and hide or kill) squib children.

The title of Draco's paper read in large squiggly black writing, 'Infertility amongst purebloods.'

Harry couldn't resist looking closer and reading the small paragraph underneath the heading which read, 'This paper shall examine why pureblood families produce less heirs than half-bloods or muggle-borns. This paper will assess the use of potions during pregnancy and compare the life of a half-blood pregnant woman and a pureblood pregnant woman.'

Harry sat down at the desk, looking through the paper, it was good, it talked about the differences and how they could affect infertility, purebloods more often than not had house-elves whereas only a few half-bloods had them. How more often than not purebloods were surrounded by dark magic, and so it went on. On the last page Harry found a list of pureblood families and the amount of children they'd had, he was shocked to see that most purebloods produced 1 or 2 children, 3 was very rare and there was only one family on the list with 4 children. The anomaly in the pureblood list was the Weasleys with their 7 children, next to their names Draco had scrawled 'blood traitors, effect?'

The half-blood list however was a different story, the average amount of children was 3, but ranged to 7, Harry noted he was the anomaly on that page, as he was an only child. With prominent muggle-borns the list was very similar to the half-bloods, Harry was intrigued, but he didn't want to say anything to Draco because he knew the Slytherin would be angry with him for poking around at his things without his permission. He couldn't sleep anymore with so much on his mind so he went for a walk, wondering if his project about pureblood infertility was the reason for his friend's bad mood.

* * *

><p>Tuesday dragged by and the first drafts were handed in to Professor Slughorn in Potions, a weight was temporarily off of their minds because their marks wouldn't be in until after Valentine's Day, so everyone seemed to relax a little, but there was still something up with Draco that night as he isolated himself in the common room. As the hour grew closer to midnight the room emptied and eventually at half an hour past midnight only Harry and Hermione remained in the common room, both kept up by worry for their mutual Slytherin friend.<p>

'Something's not right with Draco,' Harry and Hermione said in unison the moment the last person ascended the staircase to bed.

They both laughed a little awkwardly and Hermione joked, 'Whose boyfriend is he?'

Harry chuckled, her mood lifting his a little, 'I thought he was stressed at first, but the project has been handed in now.'

'I know,' Hermione said, biting her lip in a way that made Harry smile, it was very cute, 'I don't want to ask him about it, you know how he hates that, I just have to assume when he's ready he'll tell me.'

Harry nodded, he understood how she felt, he wished Draco felt he could talk to him too; after all they were practically best friends now. Hermione sighed as she stood up, wincing as she stretched, 'Goodnight Harry,' she said, worry lacing her voice as she kissed her friend on the cheek and made her way up to bed.

Harry stood up too as the fire in the fireplace which had been flickering dimly died, leaving the room in almost complete darkness, he made his way upstairs assuming Draco would be asleep. The last few nights Draco had made use of the barrier in the middle of the room, Harry had assumed by the scratching quill and the flutter of pages that he was sitting at his desk working.

However, tonight was different. When Harry arrived in his dorm room the divider was not down, and the curtains around Draco's bed weren't pulled shut. The Slytherin was lying in bed, fully clothed and awake, staring with intense concentration at the top of his four-poster bed. Harry frowned, but didn't say anything, not wanting to disturb his friend who'd been ratty and snarky lately when anyone interrupted his thoughts.

'Your project is about squibs.'

Harry was alarmed by the random comment that had come out of Draco's mouth, his frown deepened as he pulled off his trousers and climbed into bed, 'Yeah, it is, so?'

Draco sighed, taking his eyes off of the four-poster and turning to look at Harry, 'I think you could help me with something.'

'Okay,' Harry said slowly, waiting for Draco to elaborate, eventually he did, 'My project is about infertility in pureblood families and your study about how more purebloods produce squibs could really help me out, if you wanted to combine forces I think it would help both of our grades.'

Harry then finally understood, it was as if the light bulb in his head went on, he wondered if Draco could see it in his eyes, but if he could he didn't say anything or react in any way, 'Obviously I'd be happy enough to do that, but I know it's not the reason your upset. You're obviously worried about not being able to have the amount of kids you want with Hermione.'

Draco's cheeks flushed bright red, but he didn't flat out deny what Harry was suggesting, he remained silent for a moment then sighed, 'Yeah,' he said simply, 'I suppose I am.'

'So what do you hope to gain?' Harry asked curiously, lying on his stomach and propping himself up on his elbows. Draco rolled onto his side to face Harry, 'I don't know, I just want to see if I can find some connection and if there is anything I can do to prevent it happening to me then...well, I'll do it.'

'How come you think my squib research will help?' Harry asked, noting all of this important information down in his head.

'Well it makes sense doesn't it? Lack of children and lack of magical children, it's like something is draining purebloods which I know sounds crazy but it's the only way I can think of to describe it.'

'I don't think it sounds crazy, I am wondering about how you plan on doing this research though,' Harry admitted, he'd exhausted the Hogwarts library already for all it had on squibs.

Draco got a mischievous twinkle in his eye that Harry knew well, 'Malfoy Manor has a library with a huge records section, it's not just my family, its lots of prominent wizarding families, and even some famous muggle-borns. My Dad was obsessed with it too, but for a different reason, he wanted more heirs because he didn't think I was good enough to solely take on the Malfoy name.'

The bitterness in Draco's voice amazed Harry, he'd never heard anyone sound so bitter when talking about their own flesh and blood, but then he did understand why Draco felt so betrayed. He'd been raised to do as his Father said and had done so without question only to be further hated as a result.

'Theo and Neville might be able to help,' Harry said thoughtfully, pulling Draco out of his bitter thoughts of his family, or more to the point his Father.

'How?' Draco asked, merely curious, once upon a time he would have sneered at the suggestion that Neville Longbottom was capable of helping him, Draco Malfoy, or rather Draco Black as it was officially now.

'Well,' Harry said, 'their projects sort of concern the same area. Neville's is a study of premature death amongst pureblood children and I think Theo is doing something about the effects of house elves on infertility and premature death in the wizarding world.'

Draco hummed thoughtfully to Harry's words, nodding as the Gryffindor spoke and eventually saying, 'that could be useful, I think we should try and convince them to come to the manor tomorrow night, we can dig deeper and see what we find.'

'On one condition,' Harry said, which surprised Draco because the Slytherin frowned, 'whats the condition?' he asked.

'You need to tell Hermione whats going on,' Harry said, partly glaring at Draco, 'she's worried sick about you.'

Draco groaned, 'How do I start that conversation? 'hey Hermione, sorry for being a prat lately I'm just worried we won't be able to have kids cause I'm a pureblood wanker'?'

Harry was rolling around on his bed in laughter at Draco's frustrated rant and he was about to reply to his friend when someone else did it for him.

'It would probably be better to say 'Hermione, lately I've been worried what with my project being about pureblood infertility and all, I just wonder if we ever get to that point, will my blood status ruin it?' she'll think it's sweet and say your cute or something.'

'Daphne,' Harry said slowly, 'why are you hovering above my balcony on a broom?'

Daphne grinned as Harry opened the doors and let her in, she shrugged, 'I got cold?'

Harry chuckled at his girlfriend as she jumped into his bed in the Slytherin jammies he'd seen her in that night they'd ran round the school trying to save Draco and Hermione, Harry chuckled at the memory, 'No wonder in pyjamas like that.'

'Do you really think that will work? With Hermione?' Draco asked, not fazed by the random appearance of his ex-girlfriend in his best friends bed.

Daphne nodded, 'Of course it will, come on Draco, I think I know her pretty well, I bet you 10 galleons it will work,' she said confidently.

Draco seemed to be wrestling with himself but eventually said, not sounding or looking confident in any way, 'Alright I'll do it tomorrow.'

'Awesome,' Daphne and Harry said in unison, sharing an amused grin. Draco made a noise of disgust and drew the divide between the two beds, 'use a silencing charm if you're gonna have sex!' he called over the curtain and Harry and Daphne only laughed in response.

* * *

><p>The next day was slow for Draco who eventually managed to get a moment alone with Hermione during their free period at the end of the day. They ended up sitting in ridiculously comfortable chairs in the room of requirement with a very awkward atmosphere in the air.<p>

'Draco... You're not breaking up with me, are you?' Hermione asked cautiously, Draco sometimes forgot how self-conscious she was. The conversation had happened when they'd been dating for about 2 months, Hermione had brought up the fact that Draco was a renown playboy and she didn't think she measured up to some of his past...well they could only be known as flings really. Draco of course, had told her she was being ridiculous and that she was better than all of his flings combined both in looks and personality, but occasionally Hermione doubted those words.

'What?' Draco asked, affronted, 'no, no, it's nothing like that,' he paused and the air was filled with nothing but silence, forgetting he was in the room of requirement he wished for some noise and with a pop an open window appeared with birds singing loudly outside of it. Draco blushed as he caught Hermione's eye, she had laughed as soon as she realised what had happened.

'Okay Hermione, I'm just going to say this. I'm sorry for keeping my Potions project a secret from you, the reason I did is because the subject is infertility amongst pureblood families. It compares the amount of children pureblood families have with half-blood families and how many children two muggle-borns would have if they bred.'

Hermione glared at him and he frowned, 'What?'

'Bred? Seriously Draco? We're not animals,' Hermione muttered, ignoring Draco's smirk, 'I'm sorry dear, I'll rephrase that, when they _reproduce_.'

'Much better,' Hermione approved, already she was making Draco feel comfortable about talking to her without him even realising it.

'So I've finished my first draft but I'm not any closer to finding out a definite reason or several if there are any. All I have to go on is the fact that purebloods make more use out of house-elves and dark magic. But one of the things I found out scared me, if you're surrounded by dark magic for a long time it seems to have a very negative effect on your fertility, or lack of it. The darkest families had the least children, the only exception are the Lestrange's.'

Hermione smiled, 'Draco, I understand,' she said in that annoying voice that made Draco feel like he had some warm tingling feeling in his stomach, but he would never admit to anything as cheesy as that, that was the kind of thing that Harry came out with, not him.

'You do?' Draco asked, the relief lacing his voice probably very clear to his girlfriend who was smirking now, he'd definitely had a bad influence on her.

'I get it, you're worried your evil and darkness and everything is going to make you unable to have kids and because I'm your girlfriend you feel the need to tell me,' Hermione was saying, Draco opened his mouth to say something but didn't get the chance as Hermione continued to speak, 'but if you and I ever do reach that stage I doubt you'll have anything to worry about, 18 years of dark magic won't match the effect that a lifetime will and besides I'm a Muggle-born and according to every report I've read we breed like bloody rabbits.'

Draco laughed out loud and grinned, her reaction had been perfect, 'Thanks,' he said because he couldn't think of anything else to say.

'Now come on,' Hermione said, as she got out of her chair, 'we've got McGonagall's meeting to get to.'

Draco stood up and easily took Hermione's hand in his as they left the room of requirement, he took in the look of smug amusement she was trying to hide and narrowed his eyes at her, 'You know something about this meeting don't you?'

'No,' Hermione lied, causing Draco to chuckle, 'Hermione for someone who had to lie as much as you in the war you really are a terrible liar.'

Hermione scoffed and looked away, 'Draco, I'm not lying, I know as much about it as you do.'

'Yeah right,' Draco said, not convinced but amused at Hermione's attempt to cover up the fact she knew something, 'you're the head girl Hermione, she must have told you _something_.'

'She didn't tell me anything,' Hermione said, far too quickly as she sped up and walked into the great hall for dinner, the meeting would take place directly after they'd eaten.

Draco was still chuckling as he slid into a seat next to Hermione and dropped the subject; after all they'd all find out soon enough what the meeting was for.

'Oh, Draco, hey,' Harry said as he jumped up from his spot next to Daphne and squeezed in next to Draco.

'Hey...' Draco said slowly, slightly intimidated.

'So I've got recruits, Theo and Neville are up for tonight,' Harry said enthusiastically, from next to them Hermione sniggered, 'What are you up for tonight?' she asked Draco, raising her eyebrow suggestively.

Draco rolled his eyes, 'That's disgusting; I thought you were sweet and innocent Hermione Granger.'

At Draco's comment both Harry and Hermione snorted in unison causing the blonde to look from one to the other then shake his head in exasperation, 'Still can't believe my best friend slept with my girlfriend.'

'I'm your best friend?' Harry asked, surprised by the comment, Draco cursed inwardly; he'd thought it but hadn't said it aloud.

'_He's _your best friend? Potty wee Potter? The boy who didn't die? The hero who saved the entire wizarding world?'

'Theo-'

'Don't Theo me Draco! The damage is done! You've replaced me with a newer less evil, more annoying version!'

'Oi!'

'Shut up Potter.'

'Theo, it's not what it looks like-'

'It's too late Draco, we're over.'

Theodore Nott then sat down on Draco's other side, pushing Hermione so far that with an 'eep' she fell off of the bench. He grinned at Draco and Harry, 'Just kiddin' Harry,' he said, then turning to Draco, 'but you better not forget what we've been through together.'

Draco shook his head in amusement, laughing quietly under his breath, 'Don't worry Theo, I won't,' he said, causing the others around them to laugh.

'Anyway, what Harry was saying, before Theo got jealous,' Neville said, as he appeared across from them and sat down, 'he recruited us to come to the Manor tonight to help you with that, um, secret...thing, of yours, that is a secret...'

Draco rolled his eyes, 'Nev, she knows, I told her.'

'Oh,' Neville said, 'well that makes things easier; we'll help you with your project tonight to see if you and Hermione can have lots of bushy blonde haired babies.'

Hermione blushed from where she was now sitting next to Hannah at the other side of the table and Draco threw a roast potato at Neville while Theo and Harry sniggered.

'I would come and help you all tonight, but I can't, I have patrol duty and unlike _some _people I actually do it,' Hermione glared pointedly at Theo who casually shrugged, 'Meh, I have more important things to do, like ensure my BFF can have babies.'

Hermione only rolled her eyes, 'I do have some insight that might help though, with the project. You said one of the big things you found out was that dark magic influences infertility, but I'd have to challenge that. At one end yes you have purebloods having less kids but then you have the Weasleys who are pureblood and have 7 children, they don't use any dark magic. But what about those in the middle?'

'I agree, although I don't know the full idea,' Susan piped up, 'I'm a half-blood, not a pureblood, but I'm an only child, my parents tried for more kids but they just got me, it's not just purebloods.'

'You're another exception Susan,' Theo said to the Hufflepuff, 'Your Mother was such an exceptional Witch that you're much more pureblood than half-blood, it happens occasionally, like with Hermione.'

'What do you mean?' Hermione asked, a little too quickly.

'He means although you're a Muggle-born you don't seem like one. On file there is a blood sample of everyone at Hogwarts and your blood is 80% magical which is rare for Muggle-borns, most Half-bloods only have 60-70% and most Muggle-borns range from 40-50%,' Draco explained, sounding very scientific.

'Wow, that sounds complicated, what about me? What's my blood like? And how come you know so much about this?' Harry asked several questions very quickly causing Draco to roll his eyes, 'You're another exception; you have 92% of magic in your blood, which is much closer to pureblood. Neville _is _a pureblood and he's only got 85% because his family bred with Muggles more than most pureblood families did.'

'What about you? And Theo? And all the Slytherins?' Neville asked, now just as curious by this notion he had barely understood before of percentages of magic in blood.

'I have 98% of magic in my blood and I can tell you the 2% comes from a Muggle my Great Great Uncle Orion had an illegitimate child with and a Muggle boy my Great Great Great Great Cousin Cassiopeia ran away with,' Draco said, offhandedly, sounding like a shadow of his old self, 'as for Theo, his blood isn't as pure as his Father liked to believe.'

Theo smirked in amusement, '60%, my family were politicians, they were good at covering up scandalous affairs with Muggles and marriages with half-bloods.

'Most Slytherins range from 85% to 95%, Theo and I are exceptions at opposite ends of the scale,' Draco informed the others, sharing an amused grin with Theo.

'As interesting as all of this blood purity stuff is,' Hermione said, getting to her feet and checking the time, 'we better get to this meeting or McGonagall won't be happy.'

The others agreed and were eager to find out why they were being called to a meeting like this so headed off together towards the Headmistresses classroom to find out more.

* * *

><p>Everyone was chattering and the noise level was high when McGonagall walked into her classroom and called for silence. There weren't enough seats in the classroom for all of the 7th and 8th years so people were sitting on desks, cross-legged on the floor or leaning against walls around the room. Shortly after McGonagall's entrance silence fell over the entire room.<p>

McGonagall got straight to the point, 'As part of the new Ministry reforms it is necessary to introduce a new class at 7th, and in the case of this year, 8th year level. After the Great Wizarding War several young couples married young and had children, although many of you are the result of this, it was frowned upon by the Ministry so they have decided to introduce this class which has been christened 'family planning'.'

There were groans all around the room at this but they stopped with a sharp glance from McGonagall, 'this class is short and fairly easy to pass, if you get a good grade think of it as extra credit, especially if you want to work in medicine. If you fail,' for some reason she looked at Theo, 'don't think about having children anytime soon and definitely do not try and become a paediatric healer.'

At this point they all shared scared glances, wondering what the hell McGonagall had planned for them.

'This class will only last for a week, in that week you are given a child and you must care for it. If the child comes back safely you pass, but the happier the child the better the grade,' McGonagall explained, as a look of dread spread throughout the faces in the classroom.

'The ministry ask that I pair the couples randomly but I disagree with this rule, I for one do not want to split up couples so I have decided those in relationships may be paired together, others will be paired randomly.' McGonagall caught Harry's eye at that point and Harry realised how human she really was, as strict as she could be.

'Tonight I will announce the pairs and give you your child, you will look after this child until Friday the 13th, the day before Valentine's Day,' McGonagall was saying, ignoring the faces of disgust, she had to do this, the Ministry had ordered it, it was against the law to say no, 'the child's age and sex will be randomised but will look like it's 'parents'. These 'children' are not real, they are products of experimental ministry technology very similar to what Muggles call 'holograms' only, these 'holograms' can be touched, heard, smelled, like real human beings. I would ask you to try not to get too attached as, like I said, they are not real children. Does anyone have any questions?'

Theo's hand shot up into the air.

'Yes Mr. Nott?' McGonagall asked warily.

'How do you fail?'

'If your child dies you fail Mr. Nott.'

Hermione's hand was next.

'Yes Miss. Granger?'

'How do we attend classes if we have to look after children all week?'

'You will drop off the children at 8am in the hospital wing where Madam Pomfrey and a few trainee paediatric nurses will look after them, the equivalent of a Muggle 'daycare centre', you will pick up the children after classes end at 5pm. You will take them to the great hall for breakfast, lunch and dinner and you will stay in makeshift quarters for a week with your partner and the child.'

There was silence so McGonagall drew from her pocket a large roll of parchment.

'Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass, come forward please.'

Quite warily Harry and Daphne walked to the front of the class where McGonagall clicked her fingers and a house elf appeared.

'Kreacher!'

'Master Harry sir!' Kreacher squeaked, bowing to Harry, he was holding in his arms none other than Teddy, and Harry grinned as Kreacher handed him the boy.

'As you are already a Godfather Mr. Potter, it made sense, and Andromeda says she can't wait to spend a week in the Caribbean with her sister,' McGonagall said with a small smile, she handed Daphne a sheet of paper, 'The map to your quarters and a password to get in, go there now.'

Harry and Daphne swiftly left the classroom, looking at the map, 'It's the third floor corridor, we'll all be together, it's just lots of little house type quarters. It looks like two bedrooms and a living room.'

'We got off pretty easy though,' Harry said to Daphne, once she'd looked at the map, 'getting Ted, it's brilliant, he's the easiest baby ever.'

Daphne smiled at how happy her boyfriend was to see his Godson, 'he is the cutest baby I've ever seen,' she admitted as they made their way to the third floor.

Back in the classroom the next names to get called were Draco and Hermione who walked forward to where McGonagall opened a cupboard full of clay models of babies. McGonagall picked one out and placed it on the desk, 'Both of you must prick your finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the model, it will then take on your personality traits and looks and become a combination of you both.'

'Wow,' Hermione sighed, pricking her finger with one of the small needles provided, 'that's very advanced magic,' she said as her drop of blood fell on the model.

'And very dangerous Miss. Granger, everything that we are using for this class has been developed in the department of mysteries,' McGonagall told Hermione as Draco's drop of blood fell onto the model. Instantly it began to transform, it grew blonde hair and its legs and arms grew, its body began to move and it screwed its face up then opened its eye which were the same colour of hazel brown as Hermione's.

'Wow,' Draco and Hermione said in unison, that was indeed amazing magic. McGonagall handed the baby to them, which was dressed in a pink sleep suit, 'She is 6 months old, you may name her.'

Draco was handed the map and password and they left the classroom with Hermione carrying the baby.

'This is weird, but kind of cool,' Draco admitted as he looked at the baby which did indeed look like their child, it even had Draco's nose.

'I know,' Hermione agreed, 'What shall we call her?'

'I like Darcy,' Draco suggested, and Hermione seemed to mull this over for a moment, 'Darcy...I like it.'

Back in McGonagall's classroom Sadie and Theo ended up with a baby boy with black hair and blue eyes who got called Andrew. Tracey and Dean were given a 5 year old boy with black hair and brown eyes called Davie. Neville and Hannah were given a 2 year old girl with brown hair and blues eye s who they named Olivia. Michael and Ginny were given a 2 year old boy with red hair and brown eyes and had still not named him. Colin and Luna had a 1 year old girl called Sara. After that people started to get paired up, Susan ended up with Ernie and they were given a 4 year old girl called Sophia who had red hair and blue eyes. Justin got stuck with Megan and a 6 year old called Thomas. The funniest of the pairings by far however was the fact that Gabrielle got paired with Zacharias Smith, they shouldn't have laughed because nobody deserved that fate...but laugh they did, for a long time too.

**_TBC_**


	39. Family Planning Week

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 39 – Family Planning Week**

_**DAY 1**_

'I come bearing good news!'

It was Thursday morning and the great hall was much louder than usual with all the children crying and shouting down at the 8th year table and at several house tables where 7th years were situated.

Draco, Hermione, Harry and Daphne were the most at ease as they sat at the table, talking over the noise as Darcy quite happily watched Teddy changing his hair colour every 5 seconds.

'Whats that?' Draco asked, shovelling down bacon and eggs as he clicked his fingers and asked Kreacher to bring him a cup of coffee.

'Well, apart from the fact that this family planning thing is ridiculously easy,' Harry said, getting chuckles from the others, 'Melody was let out of the hospital wing today; she's been moved to St. Mungos where she can be more comfortable during the testing period. McGonagall said she'll officially be joining us on Monday the 16th.'

'That's great!' Hermione piped up, and Daphne nodded happily as she kept a close eye on the two babies, 'Yeah, I bet she can't wait to get back to a relatively normal life.'

'It's brilliant,' Harry agreed as he too started to eat almost as hungrily as Draco, although he hadn't had quite as little sleep as Draco had, he'd been working through the night obsessing over his project again. They hadn't made it to the manor like they'd planned with the whole family planning thing sprung on them so they decided they'd do it another day, when this was all over.

The family planning thing, for Harry anyway, wasn't as hard as it had seemed from how others were coping, but maybe he and Daphne were just good at it. Teddy was now 9 months old, he was crawling, walking by holding onto surfaces and saying the occasional word, he could also pretty much feed himself so at breakfast, they gave him a sandwich which he ate then they dropped him off at the hospital wing. After that they picked him up, had dinner which again Teddy ate all of with no hassle and then they went 'home.'

After that things got complicated as Harry had Quidditch practice, he came into the living room, wearing his scarlet training gear and he grinned when he saw Daphne on the floor with Teddy as he changed his hair colour to anything she held up.

'You have no idea how cute you are with him,' Harry remarked, kissing Daphne on the cheek, 'You sure you'll be okay?'

Daphne smiled, 'Oh, me and Teddy will be fine, don't worry, have fun at practice!' she called, waving to Harry as he left the room.

'Bye Hawwy!' Teddy called and the last thing Harry heard was Daphne saying, 'Aww!'

Two hours later, after the most awful practice ever because all the 7th or 8th years on the team were exhausted due to the bloody project Harry dragged himself into the living room where he saw Daphne lying asleep on the couch. He smiled and woke her up; she was drowsy at first and then looked around with a frown.

'Harry! Teddy...he was sleeping...but I must have...and oh my god, he's gone!' Daphne was panicking as she looked around the room but Harry only smiled, 'Daphne, don't worry,' he said calmly.

'Harry!' Daphne shrieked, 'Your Godson is _missing_, shouldn't you be more worried about-' she stopped speaking when Harry got on his knees and started crawling around the living room, 'what the heck are you doing?'

'You'll see,' Harry said simply as he crawled into the corner of the room and grasped something invisible that squirmed and giggled, Daphne sighed in relief from behind him as he pulled his invisibility cloak off of his Godson.

'Teddy, what did I tell you about playing with Uncle Harry's invisibility cloak,' Harry chastised the boy, but not too badly, he couldn't get angry with the little boy.

Teddy only giggled, 'Daddy!' he shouted, pointing at Harry and making Daphne giggle from the couch.

'No,' Harry corrected the boy, 'Harry.'

'Daddy!' Teddy shouted again and Harry tried again to correct him, '_No_, Harry.'

'DADDY!' Teddy shouted on a louder, more final note and from behind him Daphne said, 'I don't think you're going to win this one.'

Harry laughed, 'I think you're probably right.'

* * *

><p><em><strong>DAY 2<strong>_

Draco and Hermione had been finding this whole baby thing easier than it was described, Darcy slept at night, ate all of her meals, giggled and was cute and rarely cried, it helped that Draco really was the baby whisperer of course, a fact which amused Hermione to no end.

As they had a double free period on Friday they decided to go and show Severus their new 'baby' so they ventured towards the 8th year common room even though they'd been staying in the quarters on the 3rd floor.

The moment Severus saw them he narrowed his eyes, looking at the baby Hermione was holding, 'What,' he asked slowly, 'is that?'

'Uh...' Hermione said, looking down at the little girl, 'a baby.'

'Why,' Severus asked, in that low dangerous voice of his, 'do you have a baby that looks like Draco?'

Hermione and Draco shared a glance and Draco said, 'Um, because it's our baby...'

'What?' Spluttered Severus in shock and fury, 'and you've been hiding it all this time! Using glamour charms I suspect, not wanting anyone to find out what with you being a precious _Gryffindor _and all! And Draco I expected better of you, and you Miss. Granger you were destined for great things, the smartest witch since Lily Evans! ('Aw thanks Sev!') This is horrific, I can't believe this!'

When his rant was over Hermione and Draco shared a grin which caused Severus's fury to increase, 'And you laugh about it? Like it's not a big deal? What is happening to young people these days?'

From the portrait behind them the Marauders were in tears as they laughed, and Severus frowned, not quite understanding what was happening.

'Good one Hermione!' Sirius laughed from the portrait version of the Gryffindor common room.

'What?' Severus asked sharply as Draco grinned, 'Severus, we don't have a baby, its family planning week, we have to look after one for a week, it has our looks because of some groundbreaking ministry technology or something like that.'

'It was a good prank,' James called from behind them, causing Draco and Hermione to turn and face him, 'but you can't prank a prankster!' he finished.

'You can, however, prank a slimy greasy git,' Sirius joked, roaring with laughter, and James joined him as Lily shook her head in amusement and exasperation.

'Well, we definitely got a laugh out of it,' Draco said, sending a smirk back at Severus who glared at them as they descended the tower, their laughter echoing off the walls.

* * *

><p><em><strong>DAY 3<strong>_

Not everyone was dealing with family week as well as Draco, Hermione, Daphne and Harry. Hannah found it fun, and fairly simple, but Neville wasn't quite so convinced that it was easy.

The first few days had been fine, Hannah had done most of it, she had fed baby Olivia and put her to bed, and gotten up when she cried at night but then when it came to Saturday Hannah needed a break and it fell to Neville to look after Olivia, but he had important work to do on his Herbology project so he took Olivia with him.

At first it had been fine, but then she'd started crawling around on the bench and after the 4th time Neville had to catch her from falling he decided to put her in one of the pots to stop her falling off. He gave her a toy and she quite happily sat there as he worked away. All was well, until Hannah walked into the greenhouse.

'Neville Longbottom! Is the baby in the pot?'

Neville jumped at his girlfriend's voice and immediately tried to come up with an excuse, but nothing came to mind so he ended up telling her the truth, 'she kept crawling off of the bench, I figured she'd be safer in there!'

'She's a baby Neville, not some plant! You can't just put her in a pot!'

'Well you shouldn't have left her with me then! You knew I had work to do!'

'You always have work to do, you've barely helped!'

'I'm not good with babies! They scare me!'

There was a giggle and at that point Hannah and Neville realised Olivia wasn't in the pot anymore, she was being lifted and thrown around by the Venomous Tentacula and apparently she was finding it great fun.

'Severus!' Hannah and Neville shouted in unison 'put the baby down please Severus,' Hannah said in exasperation but the plant didn't listen. Neville rolled his eyes, 'Severus is harmless Hannah,' he said casually, 'Severus, can I have the baby please?' Instantly the plant dropped the baby into Neville's arms and Hannah snatched her off of him, 'you seriously need parenting classes if we're ever gonna have kids,' she joked as she walked from the greenhouse leaving Neville mumbling and ranting to himself.

* * *

><p><em><strong>DAY 4<strong>_

Everyone else was taking family planning week fairly seriously, but as far as Theo was concerned, the baby wasn't actually real and it was just a class, he failed other classes so he didn't mind failing this one. Sadie said she trusted him with the baby on Sunday and Theo scoffed as she headed out for a drink with Hannah, leaving Theo to think of how many ways he could kill the baby and fail the class.

First he realised he could say what he wanted to the baby and as long as he said it in a nice way the baby would smile and giggle so he'd spent Sunday morning freaking Sadie out by showing her this new skill.

He sat cross-legged on the floor with 'Andrew' the 'baby' talking to him in a sweet baby voice, 'I'm going to kill you Andrew, I'm gonna kill you,' to which the boy giggled and clapped his hands.

Sadie was staring at Theo in shock and horror, her mouth forming a perfect 'o', she shook her head in disbelief, 'Sometimes I really wonder how I ended up dating you,' she said simply, putting her jacket on.

'You're still leaving it with me, after that? Seriously?' Theo asked in shock, he'd been hoping to scare her enough to let him get the day off and not have to watch the baby.

'Yep,' Sadie said simply as she walked towards the door, 'if you _do _kill the baby, and I hope you don't, it just means you don't get the extra credit, I still will, see you later Theo,' she said, smirking as she left the room. It was times like this that Theo could grin and say his girlfriend was definitely Slytherin material.

After she left Theo tried to drop the baby out of the window, but Draco caught him and grabbed the baby before it fell, he got a smack around the head but that didn't stop him from trying again by accidentally dropping the baby into the lake, but unfortunately the giant squid spat him back out. Then he tried to use the baby for Quidditch practice, but Harry didn't approve and after that he gave up, Draco and Harry had both agreed he was a sadistic git who shouldn't have kids, but Theo only scoffed and said, 'If this was actually my kid I wouldn't do this, but it's just some freaky piece of clay whats alive and shit, that's some spooky stuff.'

'When you put it like that...you have a point...' Draco admitted and Harry barked out a laugh, 'well as mine is alive and living I disagree, and Theo, _please _stay away from my Godson.'

* * *

><p><em><strong>DAY 5<strong>_

Tracey and Dean seemed to be the couple that took the class the most seriously. They both really enjoyed having the responsibility of looking after a child; their 'child' was 5 years old and was named Davie. As an older child he'd been easy to look after and much easier to interact with than a baby.

On Monday night after dinner Dean and Tracey had spent 2 hours lying on the living room floor playing games with him and once he was in bed they sat in silence for a while, not sure what to say to each other.

'It's made me think you know,' Dean said eventually, after at least 20 minutes of silence, 'I know my Dad left for the right reasons but I don't want to be that way when I have kids. I want to be there for them, I don't want to miss anything.'

Tracey smiled and moved across the room to take his hand, 'I know, trust me, I do. My parents weren't around much growing up and I promised I'd never be that way when I had my own kids.'

'It's hard, not to get attached, isn't it?' Dean asked, looking at the roof as if he could see Davie through it.

'Yeah, I'm attached already,' Tracey admitted with a sigh, Dean pulled her closer to him, hugging her, 'Me too,' he said quietly, 'but when we have our own, we won't have to worry about letting them go.'

Tracey smiled into Dean's chest, 'When?'

Dean smiled charmingly at her, 'Well I know I love you and that I'll never love anyone more so whats the problem?'

'There isn't any problem,' Tracey promised, kissing him on the lips, 'Not at all.'

* * *

><p><em><strong>DAY 6<strong>_

Things weren't going quite as smoothly for Susan and Ernie who had ended up with a red haired, blue eyed 4 year old girl called Sophia. As Susan and Ernie were good friends they got through until Tuesday okay, mainly because their kid was old enough to sleep through the night and eat their own meals and didn't need her nappy changed. So basically Susan amused Sophia while Ernie did nothing and it didn't bother Susan too much until Tuesday night when she needed to get to Quidditch practice.

'Ernie, come on, I'll be gone an hour and a half, 2 at max, please, she'll be in bed most of that time!' Susan begged, she was already in her kit ready to go.

'Can't you just skip this practice?' Ernie asked irritably and Susan was about to reply when the door opened and Justin walked in smiling, 'hey guys, thought I'd help Ernie babysit while you're at practice Susie.'

Susan smiled at Justin, 'Thanks Justin, Ernie just asked me to skip practice, that's how much he hates looking after Sophia.'

Justin frowned, 'I thought you liked kids Ernie,' he said.

Ernie rolled his eyes in annoyance, 'So what if I do? It's not like I even need this class!'

'Whats that supposed to mean?' Justin asked, clearly offended.

'Come on Justin, we're not going to have kids, why do we need to learn to look after them?' Ernie asked although he obviously meant the question to be rhetorical, but Justin didn't take it as such. He had gone red in the face and had drawn himself up to his full height, 'Ernie just because we're gay doesn't mean we automatically won't have kids!'

'It's kind of impossible,' Ernie said dryly, not fazed by Justin's anger which as a result only made the dark haired boy angrier, 'there are ways and means Ernie but if that's your opinion then I want nothing to do with it! Until you want to talk about this properly, we are on a break!'

Justin spun on his heel and left the room, Susan whistled and said, 'have fun with Sophia,' as she too left their quarters to a shout of 'screw you Susan!'

* * *

><p><em><strong>DAY 7<strong>_

As the week ended the 'gang' ended up in Daphne and Harry's 'quarters' for a catch up. It was Wednesday and family planning week ended on Friday.

'Have you been enjoying it?' Harry asked the others, Neville groaned, 'No,' he whined, 'Hannah just shouts at me all the time and says I'm useless and don't know anything about babies but she doesn't let me ever watch Olivia so I don't know how I'm supposed to get better.'

Hannah wasn't with Neville, she was looking after Olivia, Draco just shrugged and glanced at Hermione, 'we're finding it fine aren't we?'

Hermione nodded, 'Yep,' she said with a smile, 'easy and good fun, maybe we're just going to have perfect children.'

Daphne laughed, 'If our children are anything like Teddy I'll be happy,' she teased but Harry grinned, 'our children?' he said, smiling like a fool.

Daphne rolled her eyes, 'I meant metaphorically Harry, but you are the most serious boyfriend I've ever had.'

'Nah, Theo's more like Sirius than me,' Harry joked, causing a groan to go around the room at how truly awful the joke was.

'I just don't want Davie to go,' Tracey admitted, 'I've gotten so attached to him, I know he's not real but he feels so real, he really is like our real son, you know?'

The others nodded, everyone knew exactly what she meant apart from Harry and Daphne but they didn't mind, they didn't feel like they were missing out on anything, if anything it was the opposite.

'It's definitely been an eye opener though,' Sadie yawned as she stretched in her chair, 'Theo hasn't been much use though.'

There were some chuckles, 'Yeah, I caught him trying to kill the baby,' Draco said, rolling his eyes, 'So did I,' Harry said, 'he was using it as a Quidditch ball.'

Sadie shook her head, 'I've given up trying to stop him killing the baby, he thinks it's funny, he assures me he won't do it to our real baby if we have one.'

'That's not really that assuring,' Tracey joked as she and the others laughed, 'I know,' Sadie chuckled, exasperated at her boyfriend. The others laughed, as much as some of them had enjoyed the week they were looking forward to having their normal lives back, at that point in time only Tracey and Dean were dreading handing Davie back.

* * *

><p><em><strong>DAY 9 – The final day<strong>_

When the final day came it was with shock that most of the couples found themselves at least a little bit upset at the prospect of losing their 'children'. The way it worked was that each couple had a set time which they were to meet McGonagall and the 'child' would be turned back into the clay model. Classes were suspended as the next day was Valentine's Day so each couple went to their allocated slot, and most came out crying.

Tracey needed to be comforted by Daphne for at least an hour and Dean disappeared into his dorm and hadn't been seen since, they'd definitely gotten more attached to the child than the others had. Draco and Hermione had been a little sad, but they had come out of the room with an optimistic viewpoint.

'This week was a good learning curve, but I really want this with you Hermione,' Draco admitted as they walked hand in hand back to the 8th year common room.

Hermione had merely smiled happily at the comment, 'And I want it too Draco, which is why we'll get to work at the Manor as soon as possible to find out whats causing your...' she trailed off, looked him up and down then finished, 'little problem.'

'More like big problem,' Draco whispered, smirking at Hermione who merely winked and walked on.

The others were okay when they said goodbye and everybody passed with an E or an O, it hadn't been a hard class, like McGonagall had said, there was one exception to every rule of course, and that was Theo who got a 'T' on the grounds of 'trying to kill the child, several times.'

As they were first to be given their 'child' who was in fact Teddy, Daphne and Harry were last and when they made their way to McGonagall's office they found Andromeda drinking tea and eating biscuits with the Headmistress.

'Hello Teddy,' Andromeda smiled, taking Teddy from Harry's arms.

Teddy shouted, 'Gramma!' loudly and Andromeda chuckled, 'I hear he enjoyed his week here.'

'I hope so,' Harry said, 'he certainly seemed too, he and Daphne got on brilliantly.'

'I knew he'd warm to you dear,' Andromeda said, smiling fondly at her Grandson, 'he's not scared of new people at all, very outgoing as I'm sure you'd noticed.'

Daphne chuckled, 'Yes, I had noticed,' she agreed.

'Well, we'd better be getting home,' Andromeda said, setting her tea cup down, 'thank you for the tea Minerva.'

'Not a problem Andromeda,' McGonagall said, as if talking to an old friend and Andromeda smiled down at Teddy, 'say goodbye Teddy.'

Teddy waved a chubby little hand, 'Bye Hawwy!' he shouted, 'bye Daffy!'

Teddy had taken to calling her Deedee all week so eventually getting something close to her name out of the boy brought a lump to her throat.

'Daphne, are you crying?' Harry asked in surprise as Daphne hastily wiped her eyes and shook her head, 'no, I'm just going to miss Teddy.'

'Oh don't be silly,' Andromeda said kindly, 'didn't Harry tell you I'd invited you both to Sunday dinner every week? You'll see him as often as you want too.'

'Really? He never mentioned it,' Daphne said, brightening up at this.

'I forgot,' Harry admitted sheepishly, causing all of the women in the room to chuckle.

'Bye Teddy,' Daphne waved, 'and thank you for the offer about Sunday dinner Andromeda.'

'No problem,' Andromeda said with a smile as Harry kissed Teddy on the cheek to say goodbye, with that she left the office and Harry and Daphne turned to McGonagall to receive their grades.

McGonagall smiled, 'You will both be pleased to know that you are top of the class, O+ for you both, everyone else who performed well did so knowing their child was a dummy, but you had a real child and you were still more than up to the task, well done Potter, Greengrass, you make a better partnership than I'd first have thought.

Daphne and Harry shared a grin, 'Thank you Professor,' Harry said happily and with that the couple left the office in a very good mood.

'We're top of the class,' Harry said smugly and Daphne grinned, 'Bet that's a new feeling for you,' she teased.

'Oi! I was top in DADA I'll have you know,' Harry defended himself and Daphne only laughed and kissed him, 'I was kidding,' she said, glancing around to make sure the corridor was empty, 'so as much as I enjoyed having Teddy this week, I'm looking forward to getting you all to myself again.'

'So, what do you want to do when we get back to the tower?' Harry asked suggestively and Daphne grinned, 'I'll give you a hint, it involves a bed.'

'Sleep?' Harry suggested, 'Good idea, I'm knackered too.'

The remark earned him a smack on the arm, but he probably deserved it, he grinned at Daphne and whispered as they approached the portrait hole, 'don't worry, I know _exactly _what you have in mind.'

**TBC **


	40. A Valentine's Day to Remember

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 40 – A Valentine's Day to Remember**

As upsetting as the end of family week had been for some, it did not last long, even for Dean and Tracey, because when Saturday morning dawned, it was Valentine's Day and all of the guys had impressive dates lined up for their girlfriends.

Draco, Harry, Neville, Theo and Dean had decided to make their way down to the village together, they were going to have a few drinks in 'The Three Broomsticks' while they waited for the girls who they knew would take a long time to get ready. As Daphne had put it, just because it was winter and it was snowing didn't mean they wouldn't spend hours trying to look their best.

The guys knew better than anyone else how long the girls took to get ready and they decided they'd rather wait in a warm pub than shiver in the 8th year common room for 2 hours...

'So where are you taking yours?' Theo asked as he ordered his 3rd butterbeer of the afternoon.

Draco snorted at his friends choice of words, 'They're girls, not animals Theo.'

Theo rolled his eyes, 'you know what I mean,' he said casually.

'I'm taking Hermione to Paris, for a meal at the top of the Eiffel tower,' Draco said rather pompously making Harry snigger, 'Could you get any more cliché if you tried?'

'What? It's romantic!' Draco said, glaring at his friend, 'Where are you taking the ice Queen Potter?'

Harry rolled his eyes, 'I'm taking her away for a two day cruise around the Norse countries, she has no idea, she thinks we're having dinner at a restaurant in Edinburgh,' he had gotten smug lately and Draco didn't blame him, his Valentine's day plan was pretty good.

'So who came up with the romantic cruise idea? You or Hermione?' Dean asked, with an amused grin.

Harry grinned back, 'Hermione, but that's not the point, I'm paying for it,' they all laughed and at that point Harry asked, 'So Theo, what are you doing with Sadie?'

Theo smirked, 'Oh you know, just taking her to Rome, to the place where Romeo and Juliet were said to have met.'

'Hah! And that's not cliché at all!' Draco mocked, as he and the others laughed at the cheesiness of Theo's plan.

Theo didn't seem to mind, he just smiled, 'Make fun all you want, Sadie's into all that cheesy stuff, trust me, she'll love it.'

'Well, not all of us are rich pureblood millionaires like you lot,' Neville began to say, but was interrupted by Harry piping up, 'I'm a half-blood billionaire actually!'

Neville only chuckled, 'I can't afford to take her to somewhere romantic in Europe so we're just going for a simple dinner at a fancy restaurant in London.'

'Technically London's in Europe,' Dean pointed out and Neville laughed, 'true,' he said.

'And I think it's a good idea,' Harry said, 'Hannah prefers the simpler things.'

'Exactly,' Neville said, not feeling as bad about his plan now that someone else had said it sounded good.

'I think I've got you all beat on the cliché factor,' Dean admitted as he pulled a little black box out of his pocket and opened it so they could all see the beautiful ring inside, it was gold with a shining diamond set in the centre, 'I'm taking Tracey out for dinner and I'm going to propose.'

'Wow,' Harry and Neville said in unison, they had no idea their friend had been planning this, 'that's a big step Dean.'

Dean shrugged, still smiling as he slipped the box in his pocket, 'I know, but I know it's what I want, I just hope Tracey agrees with me.'

'I don't think you've got anything to worry about there to be honest,' Theo said, smiling a real smile towards Dean, he and the Gryffindor had hit it off as they were slightly outsiders now that Harry, Draco and Neville were so close, 'Tracey's mad about you, there's no doubt in my mind as to what her answer will be.'

Dean positively grinned, 'Thanks man,' he said, and it was clear he was extremely excited and nervous about the day ahead.

Harry glanced at the clock on the wall with a frown, 'The girls should have been here an hour ago,' he pointed out, they'd gotten so caught up in their conversation that they hadn't noticed the time going by.

The others all turned in their seats to look at the clock on the wall, Harry was right, the girls should have been here at 1pm, and the clock had just hit 5 past 2.

'They wouldn't be that late, it doesn't take them that long to get ready,' Draco said warily, after what had happened with Ron he was very protective of Hermione.

'I know,' Neville agreed, 'Something's definitely not right.'

Harry was about to suggest that they go up to the castle and have a look for the girls there when the door to the pub burst open and in a flurry of snow, wind and red hair Ginny stood red faced in front of them.

'Hermione,' she gasped, trying to catch her breath, 'and the others, there was shouting and I heard her scream and then,' she took a deep breath, 'I ran into the alley and they were gone and I didn't see who did it, I'm sorry Harry.'

As Ginny heaved and finally got her breath back the others had jumped silently from their seats, 'Show me Ginny,' he said and she nodded, hurrying from the pub with the others hot on her heels, they got some strange looks from the other customers.

They hurried through Hogsmeade after Ginny to an alleyway in-between two boarded up shops where several footprints gave hints as to what happened. It looked like 3 people had apparated, walked to the end of the alley, grabbed the girls and then apparated away again. Draco and Theo were cursing loudly about how they were going to kill the bastards, Dean seemed to be in shock and Neville and Harry stood at the front of the group doing exactly the same thing, keeping a calm head and counting the marks in the snow where the girls had been dragged.

'6,' they said at the same time, Harry sighed, 'Hermione, Daphne, Sadie, Tracey, Hannah and Susan,' he realised.

'Why would anyone want to kidnap them?' Neville asked in a quiet dangerous voice, ignoring the chaos behind them as Ginny tried to calm Draco and Theo down.

'I don't know, but I can think of a few Death Eaters out there who have something against every person in our little group' Harry said darkly, and before anymore could be said Draco pushed through the alley to Harry, 'Who the hell would do this! I swear I'm going to kill the bastard who took them! I'm gonna-'

'Calm down!' Neville roared and silence fell, Neville shouting like that was so foreign that it scared them enough to shut them up, 'we aren't going to help them by standing here shouting, we need to find out more, we need to find out who did this so we can figure out how to find them and punish them.'

The silence remained for a moment until Theo asked quietly, 'Do you think they are...' he trailed off but everyone knew what he was thinking.

'Yes,' Harry replied honestly, 'I think they are alive, now, can anyone think of someone who would want to do this? Someone who has a grudge against us?'

'I can,' a new voice replied, making them jump and turn around. Percy Weasley had just strolled into the alley, nobody had even heard him apparate. He was wearing black trousers, boots and a black vest with leather jacket over the top, to put it bluntly, he didn't look like Percy.

'I'm a bounty hunter,' he explained, flashing them his badge, 'it's part of my job with the law firm, and I just got information on two Death Eaters who appeared in this alley.'

'Why were you tracking them?' Harry asked, stunned by Percy's new job, and outfit.

'They were due to appear in the Wizengamot this morning,' Percy explained, 'they skipped so I was trying to hunt them down.'

'Well whoever they are they've kidnapped 7 people, including Hermione!' Ginny told her brother in a frightened shout, she had tears rolling down her cheeks and kindly Percy put an arm around her, 'Don't worry Ginny, I'll track them down, it's what I do, and they still have the trace on them, I just need to wait until they stop moving around so I can get a permanent fix, they've apparated several times within the last 10 minutes.'

'Who are they?' Draco asked in an angry hiss.

Percy didn't hesitate in giving Draco this information, 'Evan Rosier and Thorfinn Rowle.'

'Bastards,' Draco and Theo hissed in unison.

'Percy, can we assist you on this one? The girls they took were our girlfriends, and most of us want to become Aurors anyway, we'd be of use to you,' Neville suggested, he wasn't begging, he was cool and calm, he'd learned during the war it was best to keep your head in a crisis, something Harry understood but Draco and Theo did not. Dean hadn't said a word; the others suspected he was still in shock.

Percy mulled this over for a moment, 'you can help on one condition, no heroics,' he looked specifically at Harry who nodded, 'we just want our girlfriends back, once we have them you can do whatever you want with Rosier and Rowle.'

Percy nodded, his arm still around Ginny who was shaking, 'We should go,' he said, closing his eyes and frowning, 'we've got a location.'

'Alright,' Neville said, turning to the others, 'you coming?' he asked, mainly directing the question at Dean, the others he knew were so angry they'd want revenge and he knew Harry well enough to know he was of the same stance of keep calm and unleash hell when it came to the duel.

Dean nodded, as did the others and they followed Percy to the end of the alley where it was the most dark and quiet.

'According to my contact at the ministry they are hiding in plain sight, in the mountains just North of the village, he can't be certain where but the signal is weak so he assumes they are somewhere underground. We'll apparate to the edge of the mountains and we should get some more information from there, understood?'

Once everyone had nodded and understood Percy's brief the redheaded man said goodbye to Ginny, told her to go and inform McGonagall of what had happened and spun on his heel, vanishing. The others did the same until only Harry and Ginny were left in the alley.

'Ginny, I know you want to help, but trust me; I promise we'll find them. Please tell McGonagall,' Harry practically begged and still shaken up Ginny nodded, she hugged Harry tightly, 'be careful,' she said quietly and Harry nodded, 'I'll try,' he promised as he spun on his heel, leaving Ginny alone in the dark, snowy alley.

When the group of 6 reached the edge of the mountain Percy warned them to be silent and they obliged as they trudged through the deep snow after him, it seemed like they were walking forever, they had no sense of time and nothing but an ache in their stomachs and worry pounding through their heads. They felt like they'd been walking for hours when they eventually came to a halt outside of a cave.

Percy pointed to the entrance and indicated that he'd take point and the others should follow, they all nodded, understanding what they were getting themselves into and hurried into the cave, wands blazing.

* * *

><p>When Hermione opened her eyes she winced at the pain in her head, it felt like she'd hit it very hard. She thought she was blind at first because all she could see was black but after a moment of squinting she saw small rays of light shining in through cracks in the wall, they were obviously underground. As the grogginess and heaviness began to leave her body she became more aware of her surroundings, she was sitting on the floor, her legs magically bound together as they sat out straight in front of her, her back propped against a hard rugged wall and her hands magically bound together on her lap. She squinted to the left and the right and realised she was at the end of the row of girls. At the far end Tracey was still unconscious, in order along the 'line' Hannah, Daphne and Sadie were unconscious too, but next to Hermione Susan was beginning to stir.<p>

'Where are we?' Susan asked groggily, her voice sounding rough and harsh.

'I don't know,' Hermione replied in a whisper, 'but I think we're underground.'

Susan tried to move and realised she couldn't, she groaned in pain and leant against the wall, 'we must have been out at least 5 hours with the stunning charms they hit us with.'

'I think you're right,' Hermione said quietly, looking around the room for any movement, but she saw none, 'did you see who grabbed us? All I know is it was a woman.'

'There were three of them, two men and a women,' Susan said, wincing and nursing a large bump on her head where she'd been hit by the stunning charm, 'I recognised one of them as Rowle.'

Hermione cursed under her breath, 'the other is probably Rosier, they tend to work together.'

'Who the hell is the woman then?' Susan asked in an undertone as further along the 'line' the others began to stir.

'I've no idea,' Hermione replied honestly and at that point their conversation ended as they quietly relayed their findings to the others who had just woken up.

'They took our wands,' Daphne cursed, as she moved around on the ground, not feeling her wand in her back pocket or on the ground anywhere near her.

'I know,' Tracey groaned, her head hurting just like everyone else's, 'Does anyone still have their wand?'

'I do,' Susan replied in a whisper, 'I just can't get to it.'

'Where is it that they didn't find it?' Sadie asked, her voice carrying around the room that they suspected was a cave.

Susan managed to smirk for a moment, despite the situation, but nobody saw it in the din of the cave, 'its in-between my boobs,' she admitted, 'I figure nobody will find it there.'

At any other time this would be funny and merit a laugh, but not today.

'Can't you reach it with your teeth?' Hannah asked her friend who tried to bend her neck far enough but couldn't, she hissed in pain and shook her head, 'no, and my hands and feet are bound.'

'Brilliant,' Daphne said sarcastically, 'only one of us has a wand and we have no way to reach it.'

'How did we even end up like this?' Hannah asked irritably, 'we were in Dumbledore's army; we were trained to avoid something like this happening.'

'Don't blame yourself Hannah,' Susan said calmly, she and Hermione were keeping their heads more than the others at this moment, 'we didn't expect it, we were out for what was supposed to be a relaxing day in Hogsmeade, right by Hogwarts. The war is over, why would we expect Death Eaters to appear out of nowhere and grab us?'

'Still,' Hannah sighed, 'we should have fought back at least.'

'While we didn't,' Hermione said simply, 'and talking about what we should or could have done isn't going to help us now. They're going to come back soon, and we need to think of a way to get out of here before they do.'

But it seemed they didn't have as much time as they thought because at that moment 3 figures emerged from the darkness at the other end of the cave, all wearing satisfied smirks. There were more than a few gasps when the girls realised who the woman of the group was, but their shock didn't last long as fear soon set in.

* * *

><p>The cave system the guys were making their way through seemed to never end, Percy said he knew what cave they were heading for but that they had to approach via the West entrance to avoid being detected too early. As a result they had spent the last hour making their way through tiny tunnels, huge damp caverns and they had been attacked by bats, twice.<p>

The darkness looming over them didn't give them any more hope about what they would find when, or if, they found the cave and the silence in the group was foreboding, they were all terrified.

Eventually Percy came to an abrupt halt and drew them all nearer, 'the next exit is the cave, the moment we come out of the tunnel, they'll start firing, somebody needs to get the girls their wands back and cut them loose, the rest of us will fight.'

'I'll do it,' Dean said quietly, 'it was only the second time he'd spoken since they had found the alley with the footprints in it, 'I'll free the girls,' he reiterated.

'Perfect,' Percy whispered, 'Theo, Neville, make sure you have his back, he'll be unprotected while freeing the girls. Harry, Draco, you're the best duellers, take the offensive with me, but remember, this isn't the DA. If you need to kill to protect yourself or another member of the group then kill, got it?'

'Got it,' Harry and Draco whispered while the other 3 boys merely nodded into the darkness.

'Ready?' Percy asked, '3, 2, 1 and, go,' he pointed towards the tunnel and as quietly as they could they crawled through it to the sound of groans and laughter, someone was being tortured.

Percy emerged from the tunnel first and the others followed, immediately the chaos began. The person being tortured was Hermione, but the moment the Death Eaters saw the intruders their target changed. As Percy had said this was the real world, not a duelling competition and Harry and Draco realised that quickly when Percy was disarmed and knocked unconscious by a piece of the roof crumbling away and hitting him on the head with a sickening crack. Draco found himself duelling Rosier while a little behind him Harry was locked in an intensive duel with Rowle. Dean rushed over to where the girls were bound and grabbed their wands as he set about quickly unbinding them, he started with Hermione, making his way along the line as fast as he could. Neville and Theo rolled into position behind a few rocks and were shooting spells at Rosier and Rowle when a laugh from behind them put them off and made them turn quickly.

They had thought there were only two Death Eaters, two people involved in the scheme, but a figure was emerging out of a dark corner of the room and Neville felt his stomach churn, 'there were three steps of footprints,' he said, in horrified whisper.

He and Theo both raised their wands as had Susan who had seen the figure first, all three of them shot spells towards the woman, but she'd raised her wand already and before any of their spells hit her a bright green light sped across the room, almost in slow motion, to the corner where Dean was on his knees, cutting the binds that held Tracey in place.

The others watched in horror as the curse sped for Tracey, Dean saw the light and moved in front of her, taking the full force of the curse and falling backwards amidst screams from several people in the room. They'd thought it was over, that the mysterious figure was unconscious, but she raised her wand and whispered the killing curse one more time, as blood trickled out of her mouth. This time Susan was faster, but not fast enough as she hit the woman with a killing curse that finished her off, leaving her lying on the floor with glassy eyes staring into the darkness, but not seeing.

Susan tried to get in front of the spell, but the light moved faster than she could and she screamed as the curse hit an unsuspecting Tracey who had been kneeling over Dean's body which was getting colder by the second. For a moment she looked shocked, and then she didn't feel anything as she slumped over Dean's body amidst screams, shout and sobs.

At the front of the cave Harry and Draco were completely unaware of what had just taken place behind them, all Draco knew as he avoided a killing curse and threw one aimlessly at the Death Eater he was duelling, was that he had never felt adrenaline like this before and that it scared him how much he enjoyed it. He watched with wide eyes as the curse hit Rosier in the middle of the chest, the Death Eaters eyes widened as he fell back and lay spread eagle on the cave floor. Draco gasped, dropping his wand with the shock of what he had done.

From the corner of his eye Harry had seen what had happened and managed to catch it just in time. Rowle had turned away from his duel with Harry when he saw his friend fall to the ground dead. He had raised his wand and was pointing it at Draco.

'Avada Ke-'

Not thinking, not knowing what made him do it, Harry screamed, 'Avada Kedavra!' and sent the curse flying towards the Death Eater. Rowle had been stupid to turn his back on his opponent and fell to the ground before the incantation could fall off of his lips. Draco spun around in shock, to see the Death Eater dead on the ground and Harry shaking as he looked at what he'd just done, he'd never killed anyone before.

Draco made his way shakily over to Harry, and in a rare show of emotion let Harry see through his walls as he hugged his friend tightly, 'Thanks,' he choked out, feeling Harry shaking against him, Harry tried to chuckle but it came out as more of a sob, 'that's the 3rd time I've saved your life,' he said weakly.

Draco then drew away from Harry and stared at the back of the cave in horror, Harry frowned, turning around and following his line of sight, Harry couldn't believe his eyes as he ran towards the group of people gathered around the two bodies lying on the ground, cold and dead with wide scared eyes.

'H...H...How...' Harry managed to choke out as he fell to his knees next to Daphne who was hugging Tracey's dead body and sobbing so hard that her entire body was shaking unnaturally.

Susan was pale and tears were streaming down her face, 'It was my fault,' she gasped, 'the woman, I saw her but I didn't hit her fast enough, and she killed Dean, I thought she was dead but I must not have meant the curse enough and then she killed Tracey,' Susan was sobbing as hard as Daphne, 'I should have been faster, it was my fault.'

Harry had wrapped his arms around Daphne as he tried to pry her away from Tracey, Sadie was sitting against the wall where she had been bound, rocking back and forward and hitting the back of her head against the wall each time she did so, Theo was sitting by her, holding his hand behind her head which was already bleeding, to stop her from hurting herself even more.

Hannah was crying from a distance, staring at the two bodies in horror, Neville knew his girlfriend was upset but at that current time he knew Susan needed someone more than she did so he made his way over to where she was sobbing, her tears splashing off of Tracey's face, he took Susan's hand and led her away from the bodies to where Hannah was sitting, 'Susan, it wasn't your fault,' Neville soothed, wrapping his arms around Susan and watching as Hannah looked on helplessly, wanting to help her best friend but not knowing how too.

Hermione hadn't known Tracey as well as she'd known Daphne and Sadie, but they had been friends and Dean had always been there, in the common room, at Quidditch games even if they hadn't been close. She wasn't crying, but that was partly because she'd been tortured more than anyone else and didn't quite understand what was happening. Her whole body ached and she was shivering violently, she was covered in gashes were she had been hit with Sectumsempra and Draco had rushed over to her and scooped her into his arms where he was trying to warm her up. He didn't know if she could feel his warm tears falling on her face, but if she could she gave no indication.

The duel Draco had just fought had been the most horrible of his life, he'd used dark magic more than once and he'd killed a man, he was selfish, he was crying for himself as much as he was crying for his good friend Tracey who he'd known since he was 11 years old.

They didn't know how long they stayed there, the sound of sobbing filling the room, but eventually once Hannah had regained her senses enough to wrap her arms around Susan, Neville managed to pry free and act to get them out of the cave.

He had cried as much, if not more than Daphne had. Dean had been one of his best friends, he and Harry hadn't always been as close as they were now and during the first few years when Harry was very much part of the golden trio and not much else, he'd spent a good amount of time with Dean and Seamus, they hadn't just been dorm mate, they'd been extraordinary friends.

All the same Neville was still the best equipped to deal with the situation at hand as he was the only one with a clear and cool head, everyone else was in shock. He stood, surprised by how shaky his legs were and conjured up two stretchers which he moved Dean and Tracey onto, he enchanted them to hover and said in a quiet, horse voice, 'we need to get them back to Hogwarts.'

'What about them?' Hannah asked quietly, pointing at the three dead bodies littering the cave, the female body being that of Faith Burbage, the Ministers assistant and the brains behind the operation to punish those who gave Severus Snape a portrait despite his crimes. It seemed such a foolish thing for two people to die over, two people who had barely even been involved in the campaign.

'Enervate,' Harry said quietly, pointing his wand at Percy who opened his eyes with a groan as he felt the large bump developing on his head.

'They are yours,' Harry said, his voice still quiet, and sad.

'What...' Percy glanced around at the 3 dead bodies, 'what happened?' he asked, his eyes widening when he saw Dean and Tracey's lifeless bodies on the floating stretchers.

'They attacked us, we defended ourselves, obviously we didn't do the job well enough,' Draco explained bitterly, from where Hermione was still shaking in his arms, he'd tried to get her to walk but she had screamed in pain, Draco was sure she had a broken leg.

'We need to get them back to the castle,' Harry said in that strange quiet voice that didn't sound like his own voice at all.

'I understand,' Percy said solemnly, 'I'll be at the castle soon to take your statements, I'm sorry but it has to be done.'

Harry only nodded and then he followed Neville towards the exit of the cave. It didn't take long to get out of the cave when they took the front entrance, and the crisp winter air and cold snow on their skins made everyone feel more awake, it brought them back to their senses in some small way.

They hoped they wouldn't have to walk through Hogsmeade with the bodies as they reached the bottom of the mountains where the grass turned into gravel and then concrete as they emerged near the Hogs Head. The group were surprised by the silence and emptiness of the streets as they silently walked through the village, everyone was still crying, Daphne and Sadie in particular who were pretty much being held up by Harry and Theo.

They didn't pass a soul as they walked through the village and it wasn't until they reached the gates of the castle that they came face to face with someone. McGonagall and Flitwick rushed forward, fearing the worst when they saw the stretchers. McGonagall's face turned white when she saw her own house member, Dean, and Tracey lying lifeless on the stretchers, she gasped and clutched her heart, 'What happened?' she asked in a small voice as she took in Hermione and her horrendous injuries.

For the first time Hannah spoke up about what had happened in the cave, 'We were kidnapped Professor,' she began shakily, 'by Death Eaters and the Ministers secretary, Faith Burbage,' she took a deep breath and continued, 'she said she wanted to kill us as punishment for what we did, she said we should never have campaigned for a portrait of the man who killed her sister.'

'Severus,' McGonagall whispered, more to herself than to the group of distraught 8th years.

'Percy Weasley has them Professor,' Harry said, still in that odd voice, 'he's a bounty hunter, he's taken them to the ministry, they're all dead.'

'All...dead? Merlin...who...' McGonagall trailed off and Draco said in a broken voice, not catching McGonagall's eye, 'I did, and Harry, we were duelling Rosier and Rowle, we needed too or they would have...' Draco didn't need to finish the sentence.

'I killed Burbage,' Susan whispered, so quietly that McGonagall wouldn't have heard her if her hearing wasn't as good as it was.

'She killed Dean and Tracey Professor,' Sadie said through her tears, 'Susan tried to stop her but she didn't hit her in time.'

'It's my fault they're dead,' Susan sobbed, again becoming hysterical and having to be hugged tightly by Hannah.

McGonagall herself seemed close to tears as she ushered the group inside the gates, telling them that the students had been forced back to Hogwarts as soon as Ginny had let her know what had happened which explained the deserted village they'd walked through.

As the group made their way through the empty, quiet school (all of the students were confined to their common rooms) towards the hospital wing, everybody realised that life was never going to be the same again after what had happened on what was supposed to have been the best day of Dean and Tracey's life and had ended up being the last.

_**TBC **_

_**A/N: I'm so sorry for killing off Tracey and Dean! **__** But I needed some drama and angst and there was a lack of that in this fic, which was why for a while I got bored of writing it. I wish I could say this was the end of it all, but I can't. There is still the funeral(s) to come and grief can bring out the worst in people so the death of their friends is going to cause chaos amongst the 8**__**th**__** year group, but not for long, it will be happy enough again within about 2, maybe 3 chapters, so if you can put up with the angst till then we're fine! I hope you guys don't hate me :'(**_


	41. The 5 Stages of Grief

**The 8****th**** Year**

**The 5 Stages of Grief**

_They say grief occurs in 5 stages. First comes denial and I'd felt that all the way through Hogsmeade, even as Tracey's dead body floated along eerily behind me on that stretcher I still refused to believe she was really gone. How could this happen? The girl I'd known since I was 5 years old, my first friend and the person who I could trust with my life was gone. I'd never joke with her again or sit up all night and eat ice cream with her after a break up. Even when we got to the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey placed the sheet over her cold, pale body I couldn't accept that she was gone, I didn't want too._

_The second stage of grief is anger. Once the shock has gone and the pain is all that is left you start to find ways to blame other people for your loss, or worse, to blame yourself. It was the second stage of grief that threatened to tear our group apart in the hours following the tragedy of Valentine's Day._

Everyone was scattered as Madam Pomfrey rushed around the beds, fixing everyone up; physically of course, there wasn't much she could do to help them emotionally. Hermione was hidden by a screen and Draco was behind it with her, as Madam Pomfrey tended to the worst of her injuries. From where the others sat on beds they caught the odd word, 'broken', 'tortured', 'in shock', 'needs rest', 'will still have scars', 'dark magic'.

From everything they heard they knew the prognosis for Hermione wasn't good, she'd get better physically but the dark magic inflicted upon her would forever leave scars, adding to the ugly scars on her arm that spelled 'mudblood'. The hardest battle for Hermione would be the emotional one, she had only just recovered from the torturous things that had happened to her in Malfoy Manor and now she would have to go through it all again.

Sadie's head injury hadn't been serious but she was tucked up in a bed all the same, spending the night just in case as with all head injuries. She had her legs drawn up to her chest and was staring at the opposite wall emotionlessly. Theo was sitting by her bed, nursing a broken wrist and helplessly looking at his girlfriend, wishing there was something he could do to help.

Harry was relatively unscathed, Madam Pomfrey had offered to heal up the cuts on his face but he'd shooed her away, telling her not to be silly and to attend to the more serious injuries. Daphne was in a state almost as bad as Hermione, she'd been tortured first after all, although she didn't seem to feel any pain. The emotional pain of losing her best friend had made her numb and although she'd limped through the village she hadn't needed Harry's assistance as much as Hermione had needed Draco's.

Madam Pomfrey finished with Hermione, drawing the curtains around her bed and hiding her from view, and she then began to work on Daphne who allowed the nurse to lead her to a bed, more than Harry had been able to do. Harry watched as Madam Pomfrey waved her wand, told Daphne to swallow potions and muttered charms under her breath, he felt useless like there was nothing he could do for her at all.

'Her injuries are not particularly extensive,' Madam Pomfrey eventually said to Harry as she gave Daphne a sleeping draught to allow her to get a long rest so that her body had time to recover, 'her ankle was fractured and might be stiff for the next few days, and the ligaments in her knee were torn, I'm surprised she managed to walk as far as she did, I've given her a potion to numb the pain but she'll need to take it daily for the next week to heal the ligaments,' Harry nodded, feeling unbelievable pain and responsibility for what had happened to Daphne, he'd hoped that was the end of it but Madam Pomfrey continued, 'she was hurt by dark magic, the same dark spell you used on Mr. Malfoy a few years ago.'

'Sectumsempra,' Harry muttered, shaking his head angrily, it had been used on Hermione too, but then again Rosier and Severus had been friends during their school days.

Pomfrey nodded, 'I've healed the wounds but like the scar on your forehead dark magic leaves a mark on the skin, the scars may fade but they'll always be there.'

'Where are they?' Harry asked, feeling sick to his stomach as Madam Pomfrey lifted Daphne's top and showed him 4 long, white scars on her abdomen, he felt the anger burning inside him at what the Death Eaters had done, but he contained it, he nodded and thanked Pomfrey. Harry glanced one last time at Daphne, who finally looked peaceful, and then made his way over to the others who were being treated for minor injuries, cuts, bruises, fractures and scrapes.

Harry collapsed into a chair next to Neville who was wincing as he rubbed cream onto a scrape on his head, 'We're going to get questioned,' he said quietly to his fellow Gryffindor, 'Draco and I, on the use of the unforgivable curses.'

'And you're going to get let off, it was self defence,' Neville said quickly and easily, he always had Harry's back.

'But was it? Why did I use the killing curse? Why didn't I just stun him?' Harry asked a question he'd been asking himself for hours.

Neville sighed, putting the cream down on the bedside table where Hannah was lying, staring at the roof with tear tracks on her face, 'You know the answer to that as well as I do, if you'd stunned him Draco wouldn't be here right now, the time delay would have allowed him to finish the spell before he lost consciousness. You needed to save Draco's life and you did the right thing.'

Harry nodded, still not as convinced as Neville that he'd done the right thing, 'Thanks Neville,' he said, hugging his friend in a show of emotion the Gryffindor wasn't used too.

'How's Susan?' Harry asked Neville quietly, glancing over at the redhead sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, like Sadie her legs were drawn up to her chest.

Neville shook his head, 'Not good,' he admitted, 'she blames herself, I've never seen her this way.'

'I know how she feels,' Harry sighed, he felt a headache coming on, although the large bump on his head probably wasn't helping, 'I blamed myself for Sirius's death for a year, at least.'

'I think she'll be okay, she just needs time,' Neville said, shutting his eyes and leaning his head against the wall.

At that point the doors to the hospital wing opened and two people marched in, Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister for Magic himself, and Percy whose head wound was now covered with a bandage. McGonagall, who hadn't left the room since the group of 8th years had arrived, made her way over to the Minister.

'Minerva, I apologise but I must interview your students,' Kingsley said to the Headmistress in an undertone.

'I understand Minister, but you will not question my students without my presence,' McGonagall said stiffly, causing Kingsley to frown, 'Of course,' he said simply, 'we'll start with Potter.'

McGonagall gave a sharp nod and glanced across the room, 'Potter!' she called, motioning for the Gryffindor to join them. Harry swallowed hard and made his way shakily over to the group of people.

'Mr. Potter, take a seat,' Kinglsey said very formally as he drew a curtain around them, hiding them from prying eyes, he then cast a silencing charm and drew up 4 chairs.

Kingsley had meant for McGonagall to sit next to him and Percy to sit with Harry but instead McGonagall took the seat by Harry and said quietly, 'tell the truth Potter.'

Harry nodded, he had intended to do so anyway, he swallowed again and turned to Kingsley.

'Harry, I hate to do this, but you used an unforgivable curse and I need to conduct a thorough investigation into it, which could result in your expulsion from Hogwarts,' Kingsley said darkly.

'Expulsion?' Harry asked sharply, the anger he'd pushed down threatening to boil to the surface.

'Harry, I-' Kingsley began to say, but it was too late, Harry was on his feet.

'You want to expel me? YOU SAID IT WOULD GET BETTER! YOU SAID IT WOULD STOP WHEN YOU BECAME MINISTER!' Harry roared his voice so loud it could be heard over the charms Kingsley had placed on the curtain. The hospital wing went silent as they listened to a famous Potter outburst of anger.

'But you just lied; you're like any other politician, A LIAR! THIS IS YOUR FAULT! YOU WERE IN THE ORDER, YOU WERE AN AUROR! AND YOU COULDN'T FIGURE OUT THAT YOUR OWN SECRETARY WAS PRACTICALLY A DEATH EATER! SHE DID THIS, SHE NEARLY KILLED HERMIONE, SHE KILLED DEAN AND TRACEY!'

Harry could feel his throat getting drier, he knew he'd barely be able to speak tomorrow, but he didn't care, the anger he'd bottled up was released. He fell into the chair next to McGonagall gasping for breath. Harry was surprised when McGonagall gently placed her arm around him and said to Kingsley, 'he has a point Minister, your secretary was the one who caused all of this in the first place therefore you have no grounds to expel Potter or his friends. I think you will find that killing curses were the only way they could protect themselves.'

Kingsley was taken aback by Harry's explosive temper and McGonagall's coldness, 'I believe Mr. Potter knows several stunning charms,' he pointed out.

'Yes,' McGonagall agreed, 'he does; however, a stunning charm would not have been effective in saving Mr. Malfoy's life. I think you know better than anyone else Minister that stunning charms have a small delay in which the target can finish his spell.'

Kingsley swallowed visibly at the comment but did not show any other sign of weakness, 'Very well, I can see your loyalty remains first and foremost with your students Minerva,' he said, somewhat bitterly.

'Potter, send Mr. Malfoy in,' Kingsley said offhandedly, Harry nodded, still shaking with anger as he left the curtained off area of the hospital wing. He took a deep breath and walked over to the curtain Hermione was hidden behind, 'Draco,' he called quietly.

A moment later Draco emerged from the curtain, his eyes were red like he'd been crying and Harry hated the fact that he would now have to deal with the Minister for Magic who was probably in a bad mood after Harry's screaming fit.

'The Minister for Magic is waiting for you in the curtained off area, he's questioning us about our use of unforgivable curses,' Harry said, leading Draco over to the curtain and saying, 'good luck,' as the Slytherin disappeared behind it.

Draco silently took his seat next to McGonagall who gave him a small smile of encouragement as Kingsley asked, 'You know why you are here?'

Draco nodded and Kingsley said, 'Good, then let's begin. You used an unforgivable curse to kill Evan Rosier, correct?'

'Yes,' Draco said quietly, his eyes fixed on the floor.

'Why?' Kingsley asked simply.

Draco swallowed the lump in his throat and answered, 'I don't know. I didn't think it would actually hit him, he threw killing curses at me and I avoided them and threw one back, then I turned around and he was dead.'

'So the use of the killing curse was unnecessary?' Kingsley asked, his quill poised over his paper.

'I...' Draco trailed off, was it? Could he have just used a stunning charm?

'Don't say anymore Mr. Malfoy,' McGonagall sad quickly, 'Minister, do you not believe that in the situation these students were in they used such spells for self defensive?'

'Unforgivable spells should never be used for self defensive unless there is no other option,' Kinglsey replied, a textbook answer.

'I find that hard to believe,' McGonagall said with narrowed eyes, 'how can you expect to tell these students who fought during the war that when you see a Death Eater it's okay to kill them in self-defensive and punish them for doing it now?'

Kingsley opened his mouth to speak, but McGonagall beat him to it, 'Just because the war is over does not mean the danger has passed. Two young people died tonight, if these students had not acted the way that they did more might have died with them.'

There was silence for a moment and then Kingsley said to Draco, 'You are free to go. Please send Miss. Bones in.'

With a nod Draco left the curtained off area, breathing a sigh of relief he made his way over to Susan, 'Susan,' he said gently, 'The Minister wants to talk to you about your use of an unforgivable curse, he's talked to Harry and I already.'

'Okay,' Susan said weakly, allowing Draco to put his arm through hers and lead her over to the area where the Minister was waiting.

'Are you going to be okay?' Draco asked, worried about his friend.

Susan looked strangely at Draco and replied, 'Eventually,' as she disappeared behind the curtain.

Like Draco had before her, Susan silently took the seat next to McGonagall and waited for Kingsley to speak to her, 'Miss. Bones, I need to ask you about your use of the killing curse earlier today.'

Susan only nodded, and when he realised she wasn't going to say anything Kingsley asked, 'You killed Faith Burbage, correct?'

'Yes,' Susan said simply.

'Was it self-defensive?' Kingsley asked, taking a different approach than he had with Draco as he could see that Susan was extremely upset.

'Yes,' Susan said, again not elaborating.

'What happened that caused you to feel you had no choice but to use the killing curse?' Kingsley asked, scribbling on the piece of parchment in his lap.

'I saw her moving and I saw her saying the spell but I didn't move fast enough with the curse,' Susan said shakily, 'Dean was dead by the time it hit her, and then I thought she was dead, but-' she cut herself off and gasped loudly as she tried to get air back into her lungs, 'she wasn't and then she killed Tracey but I tried to stop her but the curse didn't hit her in time, I was too late, I killed Dean and Tracey.'

Susan had once more started to cry and shake, McGonagall gave Kingsley a dirty look and ushered Susan out of the curtained area and to one of the hospital beds. She then made her way back over to Kingsley, 'my students are in shock and have just lost their friends, I'd thank you to leave my school Minister until you can come back with a semblance of humanity.' McGonagall then pushed Kingsley from the hospital wing, shutting the doors loudly.

'I apologise for that Professor,' Percy said from where he was still hovering in the hospital wing, 'I had to take the bodies back to the ministry, there was no way of Minister Shacklebolt not finding out.'

McGonagall shook her head, 'Don't worry Percy, I don't blame you,' she said, 'but you should go, it's going to be a long night here.'

Percy nodded, 'I understand Professor, however, I would like to be able to inform my sister of Dean's death, after all, they did date for a long time.'

McGonagall sighed heavily; she had forgotten about Ginny Weasleys relationship with Dean, she nodded, 'Of course, the password to the Gryffindor common room is 'lionheart'.

'Thank you,' Percy said simply as he slipped out of the hospital wing, shutting the doors tight behind him.

* * *

><p>Back in the hospital wing tensions were still on the rise. Draco had gone back to Hermione so they were hidden behind the curtains. Daphne was still fast asleep due to the strength of the sleeping draught but everyone else was allowed to leave the hospital wing apart from Sadie who was being kept in overnight, due to the tragedy of it all Theo had convinced Madam Pomfrey to let him stay.<p>

Harry, Neville, Hannah and Susan made their way to the common room in silence, they didn't know what time it was but they knew it was late from the fact the candles were lit and it was pitch black outside. The common room was deserted when they got there, and a glance at the clock on the wall told them it was the middle of the night. The moment they were in the room Susan made her way to the girl's staircase and climbed it without a word to the others.

'Deans been dead for 10 hours,' Harry said quietly, collapsing into a chair by the fire which was still burning, but looked like it would splutter out very soon, 'it's not going to feel right, Dean not being here, I've known him for so long...'

Hannah snorted and Harry frowned as he turned to face her, 'What was that for?' he asked irritably.

'Don't act like he was your best friend,' Hannah said harshly, 'Tracey and Daphne were like sisters, you never saw one without the other before you and her started going out, she has a right to be upset. You shared a dorm with Dean but it's not like you were ever friends, you only ever cared about Ron and Hermione.'

'That's not true,' Harry said, standing angrily to his feet, 'I care about a lot of people, I learned to stop showing how much I care for people because everyone I love ended up dying! You have no idea how much it hurts to hide your feelings!'

'Yeah,' Hannah said bitterly, 'your right, I have no idea what it's like to be the precious Harry Potter with his perfect life and the awful burden of being the hero who has to save the whole world, blah, blah, blah.'

'Calm down Hannah,' Neville said firmly, glaring at his girlfriend, 'Harry's life was never perfect, he got beaten up by Muggles and he lost every Father figure he ever had, you have no idea what he went through.'

'Oh don't I? So losing my real Mum is nothing compared to Harry losing 'Father figures?' right,' Hannah said dryly, her voice getting louder the angrier she got, 'at some point Neville you're going to have to make your mind up,' she had walked towards the portrait hole which was now open, she was ready to leave at any second, 'you're either with me and stand by me or you stick with your precious boy who lived hero.'

'Hannah,' Neville said in a low, dangerous voice, 'that's below the belt.'

Hannah laughed bitterly, 'right, so that's your choice then? Him? Fine, we're done Neville!'

As she said her last words she spun on her heel and left the room, the portrait hole shutting loudly behind her. Neville stood in the common room in complete shock for a moment and then hurried up the staircase to the boy's tower.

Harry was left in the common room alone after the ordeal and as he knew he wouldn't sleep that night he decided that conjuring Kreacher to bring him firewhiskey was the best option.

* * *

><p>Neville climbed the tower, past his dorm room, the room he had shared with Dean, past Harry and Draco's top floor room and right to the locked door at the top which led to the roof. He muttered a rubbish 'Alohamora' which thankfully opened the door, and then he pushed through it, cherishing the cold night air.<p>

When Neville opened his eyes he was surprised to see Susan leaning over the wall, apparently she had the same idea as he had, to take in the air. She had turned to face him when he walked out onto the roof from the boys' entrance; she'd obviously taken the girls entrance.

'Oh,' Neville said, embarrassed that he hadn't noticed Susan straight away, 'I didn't know you were out here Susan, I'll go.'

He had already turned to leave when Susan said quietly, 'No, you can stay.' Neville wouldn't have heard her if her voice hadn't carried with the wind to where he was standing, he turned around as she sat down, slumped against the cold, stone wall. Neville walked over to her and sat down next to her, not minding that the ground was damp and that the air was freezing cold.

'I would ask if you're okay, but that's probably a stupid question,' Neville said, not looking over at the redheaded Hufflepuff next to him as he leant his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.

'I'll be okay,' Susan said honestly, sounding much more like herself now, 'I guess I'll just wonder what I could have done differently, you know? What if I'd been quicker or my spell-casting had been better?'

_The third stage of grief, they say, is bargaining. In which you try to bargain your life for that of the person you lost. Susan experienced this more than anyone else I believe. As much as I was grieving for Tracey I never experienced this stage of grief because I had no reason to feel responsible for what happened. However, I would have done anything to save Tracey, even if it had meant giving my own life._

Neville opened his eyes, Susan wasn't crying anymore, now that the shock had worn off she was much more calm, but he could tell that beneath the surface she was breaking into pieces, 'My Grandma told me about my parents when I was 5 years old, I spent the next 6 years trying to figure out why it had happened and if they would be okay and alive if they'd saved themselves and not protected me.'

'Neville,' Susan said quietly, her voice breaking, 'how could you think that?'

'See' Neville said, a small smile on his face, 'it was stupid of me to think that it was my fault they were sick when I couldn't have done anything about it. The truth is Susan, nobody would have been fast enough, Theo and I saw it too but we didn't think as fast as you, if it hadn't been for you the person who did this might have gotten away with it.'

Susan seemed to take some time to mull this over, she nodded but didn't say anymore for a moment, 'why are you up here?' she asked, out of the blue.

Neville hadn't wanted to think about it, whenever he thought of Hannah's cold, bitter, angry shouts he felt anger bubbling to the surface that made him want to scream, 'Hannah broke up with me,' he said simply, he would have elaborated but he didn't get the chance.

_The fourth stage of grief is depression. When the anger bubbles down and you stop blaming yourself and denying your loss. Then the real sadness kicks in, the emptiness, the feeling like you have a hole inside you, like nothing will ever be the same. From this moment forward you will have to live without your best friend and face the fact that she's gone every day._

A loud crack made both Neville and Susan jump until they realised that it was just Harry's house elf, Kreacher, who had apparated to the rooftop.

'Master Harry asked me to bring these to Master Longbottom and Mistress Bones,' Kreacher informed them as he placed a blanket and a bottle of firewhiskey on the stone floor in front of them. Then with another crack he vanished.

Neville gave a dry laugh, 'Harry knows us well,' he joked, grabbing the blanket and handing one end to Susan who covered herself with it, no longer shivering. Neville did the same and opened the firewhiskey; he took a long drink, coughing at the strength of it afterwards. He handed the bottle to Susan who took an even longer drink with no sign of discomfort.

'You're pretty badass,' Neville joked and Susan managed a weak laugh, 'right, or just a lonely misfit,' she said honestly.

'Misfits united,' Neville said, raising the firewhiskey bottle and drinking out of it once more. There was silence between them until Susan asked, 'So...what happened with Hannah?'

Neville laughed a bitter, harsh laugh and swigged from the bottle, 'she said Harry had no right to be upset about Dean's death and then she started going on about how Harry was always wanting attention for being the boy who lived,' he rolled his eyes and swigged once more from the bottle, 'so I stuck up for Harry and she said I'd have to pick between her and him then stormed out saying that it was over,' Neville took one last drink before handing the bottle to Susan.

'She broke up with you for not agreeing with her?' Susan asked, from her tone of voice it was clear that she did not agree with her friends decision, 'that's pathetic.'

'Tell me about it,' Neville muttered, leaning once more against the stone wall.

Susan laughed, it was out of the blue and it caused Neville to open his eyes to look at her, 'we're so screwed up,' she said, laughing instead of crying, 'Tracey's dead, and Dean's dead, and Hermione and Daphne have been tortured,' her laughter was now mixed with tears, 'and Hannah's broken up with you and I'm falling apart,' she turned to face Neville, 'it's so screwed up.'

Neville was going to reply but he really didn't know what to say, he opened his mouth to spew out some nonsense about how it would all be okay in the end, but he didn't end up saying what he'd intended to say because Susan had grabbed his face and kissed him. Neville was stunned at first, but then his foggy mind began to interpret what was happening and he kissed Susan back, his logic was that he had nothing to lose, he'd already lost Hannah for being loyal to Harry, one of the few people who had always been there for him, and Dean was gone, and Seamus had barely spoken to him since they returned for school. His logic was twisted but he enjoyed kissing Susan, it was the first time all day he'd felt something other than pain so for once in his life he was selfish, and he deepened the kiss. It was hot, passionate and fast, a battle of wills and power.

'I'm so sorry,' Susan gasped, as she broke the kiss, 'I shouldn't have done that.'

Neville shook his head, still in shock at what had just happened, 'I don't mind,' he said, kissing her again. It wasn't like this was new to them, they'd dated before. While Harry had been too busy with the half-blood prince and horcruxes to notice anyone else but Draco and his sneaking, Neville had being going through a tough time himself and through a late night conversation one night atop the astronomy tower he found an ally in Susan who had just lost her Aunt. They'd dated secretly for about 7 months throughout their 6th year, for Susan she didn't want people to know her business, and for Neville he didn't want the inevitable teasing, as fun as it had been, sneaking around and meeting up in the dead of the night it hadn't lasted. They'd both been in dark places at that time, and their relationship had been their way of rebelling, doing something out of the ordinary. It had ended after Dumbledore's death, they both knew they'd be coming back to school the following year regardless of what happened but the battle atop the lightning struck tower had changed them both and they knew it would never have worked.

It seemed strange to Susan that she hadn't realised until this moment how much she'd really missed Neville, and the same thought struck Neville as they kissed once more, on an open rooftop just like they used too when they'd meet up at the top of the astronomy tower.

It made it easier to find comfort in someone you'd already been intimate with and it didn't feel as wrong as it might have done with a stranger. Neville broke the kiss and rose to his feet, reaching out to Susan, 'come on,' he said simply and she took his hand, allowing him to pull her up and lead her to the boys' tower. She didn't say anything as they made their way quietly down the staircase and into the room Neville shared with Dean, Theo, Ernie and Justin. They both glanced at Dean's empty bed and had to look away sharply; thankfully Ernie and Justin were asleep.

'Are you sure?' Susan asked Neville in a whisper as they drew the curtains around Neville's four-poster bed.

'Muffliato,' Neville said in reply as he pushed Susan onto her back on the bed, 'Are you sure?' he asked, swigging one last time from the firewhiskey bottle.

Susan grabbed it from him and drank from it, 'I'm sure,' she said mischievously and just like that; grief had caused two people to commit a sinful act that was out of character for them both.

* * *

><p>The common room was lonely at first; Harry had gotten through half a bottle of firewhiskey by 4.30am when it started to get busier. Hannah staggered through the portrait hole and had clearly been drinking. Harry turned away from her, expecting her to ignore him and go up to her dorm room. Instead she sat down on the armchair across from him, 'I did a bad thing,' she admitted, letting her head fall into her hands.<p>

'By breaking up with Neville? I know you did,' Harry said darkly, he still hadn't forgiven her for what she had said and done.

Hannah shook her head, 'worse than that,' she groaned, her head pounding from all of the butterbeer and firewhiskey she'd had to drink at the Hogs Head, 'I slept with Blaise,' she blurted out.

'You did _what?_' Harry asked, forgetting he was angry with her because he was so shocked.

'I know,' Hannah moaned, 'I was so angry and upset and he was at the Hogs Head and I had far too much to drink,' she was crying now, 'Neville's never going to forgive me, is he?'

'I don't know,' Harry said honestly, rubbing his tired bloodshot eyes, 'I don't know much at the moment.'

They didn't know what to say to each other after that so they remained silent but then the common room started to fill up as Theo and Draco returned from the hospital wing to try and get some sleep.

'Hey,' Theo yawned, swiping Harry's firewhiskey and then throwing it over to Draco who accepted it with a grateful grunt.

'Where's Neville?' Theo asked, the question was completely innocent.

Draco sat down heavily on the sofa next to Theo, 'Yeah, and where's Susan?' he asked.

At that point they all shared looks of confusion and shock. Theo and Draco didn't know what had happened between Hannah and Neville, but Harry and Hannah shared a knowing look.

'He wouldn't...' Theo said.

'He didn't...' Draco added.

'She wouldn't have...' Harry said slowly.

They didn't need to ask any more questions, or ponder on the issue anymore however because at that point Neville and Susan descended the boys staircase together, their eyes widening when they saw the group of people in the common room.

Neville and Hannah's eyes met and Susan gaped at her best friend, 'Hannah...I...'

'I knew Susan,' Hannah said sharply, 'that you dated in 6th year, Neville told me,' she was frowning deeply and looked as if she was holding back tears, 'but I never thought you still had feelings for him...'

'Hannah, it wasn't like that,' Susan said quickly, 'it was a mistake, we...'

'You what?' Hannah asked loudly, the anger seeping back into her voice.

'You broke up with him Hannah! Did it not occur to you how selfish that was? You left him when he most needed you! His best friend has just _died_!' Susan didn't lose her temper much so the fact that she had said a lot about her opinion of Hannah at the moment.

'You think I don't know that?' Hannah asked quietly, 'I know how much of an idiot I've been Susan; I don't need you to shove it in my face!'

Hannah hurried from the room once more and this time Neville followed her. Susan breathed a sigh of relief and slumped on the sofa next to Theo who wrapped an arm around her, 'you really need to stop sleeping with people to make yourself feel better.'

Susan raised an eyebrow at Theo and he smiled, 'Just trying to cheer you up Suse,' he said lightly, 'I think we all need to laugh in times like this. I don't think Dean and Tracey would have wanted us to be miserable.'

'I think you're right,' Harry admitted, 'but it doesn't stop us from mourning, even if it is only for a little while.

There were some nods of agreement around the room and silence fell as the group watched the fire slowly dancing around in the fireplace as the flames died out.

* * *

><p>Neville eventually caught up with Hannah in a disused classroom on the 6th floor where she was leaning against the wall in tears.<p>

'Hannah...I'm-'

'Don't say you're sorry Neville,' Hannah ordered, 'because I'm the one who should be sorry for leaving you when you needed me and for...for sleeping with someone else.'

'What?'

Hannah's sobs got louder, 'I needed to get away so I went to the Hogs Head and I...I...I slept with Blaise.'

Neville stared at her in shock, he knew he'd done wrong too, but the girl he'd slept with had been his girlfriend for 7 months, they knew each other well, it wasn't the same but it was sort of like the situation with Harry and Hermione during their horcrux hunt. Hannah didn't know Blaise at all, they sat together in one class but other than that there was no connection between them; it was so completely out of character for Hannah.

'Do you regret it?' Neville asked quietly.

'Of course I regret it,' Hannah replied, her voice muffled by her tears, 'I've lost you because of it.'

'You haven't lost me yet,' Neville said, moving closer to Hannah, 'and if you regret it then that's all that matters.'

Hannah looked up in shock, catching Neville's eye, 'you forgive me?' she asked, the disbelief clear in her voice.

Neville shook his head, 'No,' he said honestly, 'but I will.'

This seemed to be all too much for Hannah who threw herself at him and hugged him tightly; Neville wrapped his arms around her tightly, wishing he could just forget that the entire night had happened.

'I'm sorry Hannah,' Neville said, letting a few tears fall into her hair, 'I should never have reacted the way I did, neither of us should have,' he paused, sighing deeply, 'I suppose grief makes you do things you wouldn't normally.'

'I won't lie to you Neville,' Hannah said, pulling back from the hug and looking Neville in the eye, 'I can't just forgive you for sleeping with my best friend, but I understand that there was something between you before. Can you promise that there are no feelings? That you only love me?'

Neville managed a small smile, despite the situation and the events that had happened within the last 24 hours, 'I promise, Susan and I are two friends who made a mistake. You, Hannah, are the woman I want to spend my life with, no matter how infuriating and fiery you are at times, nothing can change that.'

Hannah too gave Neville a weak smile as he asked, 'do you forgive me?'

Hannah shook her head, 'No,' she replied, looking him in the eye, 'but I will.'

Neville kissed her lightly on the lips, 'then that's good enough for now.'

_The 5__th__ and final stage of grief is acceptance and when I woke up on Sunday morning as painful as it was, I accepted that Tracey was gone. I accepted that I'd have to live every day without her, that I'd have to attend her funeral and say goodbye. Acceptance is the hardest stage in my opinion, but it's also the most important. Valentine's Day had been an earthquake that shook all of us to the core and we all knew we'd feel the after tremors; we just never knew they would be this bad._

**TBC!**

_**A/N: If you really hate this fic now I'm sorry **__** but I promise it will get better, the next chapter will be angsty as it's the funeral(s) but after that things will brighten up again.**_


	42. Funeral for Our Friends

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 42 – Funeral for Our Friends**

The week following Dean and Tracey's deaths was awful. Everywhere they went the group were asked questions by other students, getting through each day seemed to be a struggle as they neared Sunday.

The funeral was to take place at Hogwarts as a joint funeral, like Harry's parents had been, he'd heard from Severus. McGonagall was going to do the honours and once the ceremony was over the coffins were to be buried in the war graveyard.

After the battle of Hogwarts so many had died that a war graveyard had been created with Dumbledore's tomb in the centre of it. Harry, Ron and Hermione had helped to bury the dead and place the tomb stones; he visited the graveyard occasionally when he needed to remind himself of the harsh realities of the world.

The fact that Dean and Tracey's bodies were to be placed there was in a way fitting, after all they had been victims of the war, only they'd had the chance to live for a while after it and that fact brought Harry some small comfort as he stood in his best black dress robes at the front of the great hall. The entire school had turned up but the front two rows were reserved for family and close friends. Dean's Mother and Step-Father, Ella and Daniel, were crying in the front row, next to them were Dean's half-brother and half-sisters, Darren, Donetta and Danielle who were also trying hard to conceal their tears. The youngest girl looked about 13; it broke Harry's heart a little.

Tracey's family were sitting alongside Deans. Her Mother Lorelai was crying into the shoulder of one of Tracey's twin brothers. Icarus and Daedalus had been given sympathetic leave from the Minister for Magic to attend the funeral, but as soon as their sister's body was in the ground they would be carted back to Azkaban.

Harry wondered briefly if they felt responsibility for what had happened, after all they had been Death Eaters too. One look at their faces was enough to tell Harry that they felt more than enough guilt to last them a lifetime.

Daphne had barely talked to Harry since Tracey died, she'd barely talked to anyone, it was like she'd put a barrier around herself and no one could break through it, but today at the funeral she let Harry wrap his arms around her as she silently cried.

The hall was a sea of black. Black dress robes, black dresses, black hats. The silence was eerie and didn't befit the room that was usually so loud and had such a happy energetic feel. Standing there as McGonagall took the stage Harry couldn't help but flashback to Cedric's funeral, and how Dumbledore had stood where McGonagall was standing now. He shut his eyes tightly, holding back the tears and listened as McGonagall began to speak.

McGonagall cleared her throat, she too was dressed in full length black robes, 'Today we are mourning the death of two students who had so much more to give,' she began, 'Dean Thomas and Tracey Davis were a couple who were very much in love and very happy together. It was cruel that they were taken from us in such a way, so soon after they had survived a war that killed so many.'

'Dean and Tracey's sad passing should teach us all a lesson. Life is not to be taken for granted, it is to be cherished and enjoyed while it still can be. No one's time on this Earth is unlimited,' McGonagall finished, stepping back to allow Lorelai to make her way to the centre of the hall, with Icarus, or was it Daedalus? holding onto her arm for support.

'My daughter sadly died not knowing that Dean was planning to propose to her that same day,' Lorelai said, not bothering to wipe away the tears falling from her eyes, 'but I know she died happy because in all of her letters to me she talked of the man she loved and the amazing new friends she had made this year,' her voice broke but she continued, 'and I will be forever grateful to those who made her happy and especially to the one girl who made sure the person who did this got what they deserved,' as she finished her speech Lorelai caught Susan's eye and she nodded, not able to manage a smile at that point in time.

As Lorelai sat shakily back down, Ella took the stage, it must have been strange for her, to talk in front of so many Witches and Wizards.

'I'm so pleased to see all of you here today, knowing that Dean had so many friends and was loved as much in this world as he was in ours means so much to his Father and myself. Ever since he'd met Tracey, Dean had been so happy and I couldn't have been more delighted when he brought her to meet us, I'd never met a sweeter girl. It breaks my heart that they never got to live out their dreams and that my eldest son was taken from me so soon but I can spend the rest of my life knowing he died for a cause, he died a Hero,' Ella finished, wiping her eyes and leaning on Daniel for support as he helped her back to her seat amidst applause from the audience, applause that Lorelai had not gotten.

Harry had asked Daphne if she'd like to speak at the funeral, assuming she'd say no, but she had said yes, much to his surprise. She, was the 3rd person to take the stage and despite the tear tracks on her face she looked calm and composed.

'Tracey was my best friend,' Daphne began, looking at a spot at the front of the crowd; Harry suspected it was Lorelai, 'we were like sisters. Our Mothers went to school together and I can remember spending weekends with her from the age of 5,' she began to break apart a little, 'through every struggle she was there for me and I was there for her and nobody has ever known me inside out like Tracey did. Losing her feels like I'm losing a part of myself and I know I'll miss her every day for the rest of my life.'

Daphne didn't cry until she collapsed into her seat next to Harry at the front of the hall and she let him hug her, whispering to her boyfriend, 'I needed to do that; I needed to do it to accept that she's really gone.'

'I understand baby,' Harry whispered as he wrapped his arms more tightly around her and kissed her fore head as Seamus took to the stage to talk about his best friend, soon it would be time to carry the coffins into the grounds.

Harry was surprised to see that Seamus was in tears, they hadn't been close since the return to 8th year, Seamus had showed far too much loyalty to Ron and hatred toward Draco for them to regain friendship, but despite that Dean had been his best friend for several years, 'Dean was my closest friend,' Seamus said, wiping his eyes with embarrassment, 'he was one of the first people who got to know me instead of writing me off as an idiot because I'm Irish. Although in the last few months our friendship circles had changed you can't replace 7 years of friendship. Dean and I fought together in the final battle and I'm just sorry I couldn't have fought with him in his last hours.'

The speech had actually moved Harry, and Neville who was trying to cover up the fact he was crying by hugging Hannah. IT had been very profound and truthful, although Harry couldn't dwell on it for long as the lids were placed on the coffins and the pallbearers called forward to transport the coffins to the graveyards.

Dean's Mother had chosen his pallbearers and they were, Daniel his Step-Father, Darren his Step-brother, Seamus, Neville, Harry and Theo. Tracey's Mother had also chosen Tracey's pallbearers and as a result they were Icarus, Daedalus, Daphne, Sadie, Hermione and Hannah. The two groups of people walked through the centre of the hall, Dean's coffin in front and Tracey's behind. The large crowd followed them out into the snowy grounds where they had to slow down in case they slipped on the ice. The funeral procession walked towards the graveyard by the lake with their heads down, the air so cold their tears felt like they were turning into icicles.

They reached the iron wrought gates with the words, 'Victory'; emblazoned above them and led the coffins to a spot at the front of the graveyard where two graves had already been dug that morning by Hagrid. In just a few hours a fair amount of snow had accumulated in the graves.

The coffins were placed above the graves where they hovered for a moment before slowly descending into the ground. The 8th years stood at the front of the crowd inside the graveyard while the others watched from behind the metal fence.

Lorelai, Icarus and Daedalus each took a handful of dirt and dropped it onto the coffin where it mixed with the snow which was now falling heavier than ever before. Similarly Dean's parents and siblings each through a handful of dirt into the ground and then Harry (who McGonagall had specifically asked to do this) did the honours and using magic moved the mound of earth next to each of the graves into them, filling them in and covering the coffins of Dean and Tracey.

At this point the crowd dispersed until only Daphne and Harry were left in the graveyard, Daphne on her knees in the snow and dirt, her dress getting wet and dirty as she cried over Tracey's gravestone which read 'Tracey Davis, daughter and friend. April 26th 1980 – February 14th 1999.'

'Daphne,' Harry said gently, as he too fell to his knees next to his girlfriend, 'you've got to see the light in this. Trust me I know how hard losing someone you love is, when I lost Sirius I didn't know how I'd live again, but life went on and it got better,' he was holding her tightly in his arms, 'it's horrible and we all miss them but it's made us all realise how much we love each other, how much we don't want to lose each other. It's made us all stronger Daph.'

'I guess you're just used to it,' Daphne sobbed, not meaning it in an offensive way, 'you've lost a lot of people you love. Before Tracey I'd only lost my Dad.'

'I know,' Harry said quietly, 'but losing someone never gets easier, no matter how many times you've had to deal with it.'

Daphne nodded and looked back to Tracey's gravestone, wiping her eyes and clearing her throat. Harry got to his feet, 'come on,' he said, helping her up and clasping her hand tightly in his as they made their way back to the castle.

* * *

><p>The 8th year common room thankfully was not as solemn as the great hall had been earlier that day. The 8th years had decided that they would have a 'party' that night after the wake to mourn the death of their friends and celebrate life. To begin with people had moped around miserably; crying into their butterbeer and then Theo had stood on a table and shouted, 'Oi you lot! Tracey and Dean wouldn't want us to be miserable so snap out of it!' and after that the air had lightened considerably.<p>

By river dancing on the table Theo and Harry had even managed to get Daphne to laugh which was music to Harry's ears, he hadn't heard the sound all week and he'd missed it very much. However things couldn't run smoothly for very long unfortunately. Seamus had been sitting in the corner of the room not talking to anyone, not even Lavender his own girlfriend, he'd started with a full bottle of firewhiskey that was practically empty when he made his way over to where Harry was sitting on the armchair by the fire with Daphne curled up in his lap.

'Oi Potter, I want a word with you,' Seamus said darkly, it was clear he was drunk but he wasn't slurring his words.

'Sure,' Harry said diplomatically, he smiled at Daphne, kissed her on the cheek and left the common room with Seamus. The second the portrait hole shut two things happened. 1.) Severus, Lily and the Marauders moved forward eagerly in their portraits to find out what was happening. 2.) Seamus start to shout and swear so loudly that the common room went silent to listen to what was happening outside.

'It's your fucking fault Dean's dead! If it weren't for you then he would never have gotten involved with those fuckin' Slytherins. Just cause the wars over doesn't mean that their all bloody saints, Malfoy still used a bloody killing curse and now their infecting all of you, the Harry Potter I knew would never have used a killing curse to save Draco Fucking Malfoy and don't even get me started on Susan or Hannah, she would never have cheated on Neville with Zabini! See what they are doing to you! You've got to cut ties with them Harry!'

Harry should have seen this coming really, and when Seamus put it that way he began to wonder if being friends with the Slytherins really was changing them for the worse. Things had been different lately but was there any way to prove it was the Slytherins or the after effects of the war?

'Seamus, I understand why you're worried,' Harry said truthfully, 'and I know things have changed because we're still in some way recovering from the war and so many years of fighting, not because of Draco or Theo or any of the Slytherins.'

'Of course you'd say that,' Seamus said bitterly, 'you're more loyal to your girlfriend than anyone whose actually in your house, apart from Hermione, your friend with benefits,' he laughed nastily and that was the final straw as far as Harry's patience was concerned. He pulled out his wand but he didn't have time to use it as Seamus resorted to Muggle violence and flung out his fist, there was a loud crack as it connected with Harry's nose and the blood began to spurt out.

'Fuck!' Harry cursed loudly as Seamus stormed into the common room, making a beeline for the stairs before Draco, Theo or Neville could find out what he had done and go after him.

'Harry what happened?' Draco asked in shock as he and the others rushed out into the corridor.

'He broke my nose!' Harry shouted, his voice muffled with the pain and the blood in his mouth.

There was a snort behind them from the portrait of Severus who went on to say, 'I knew you wanted to become Dumbledore, but don't you think this is a step too far even for you Potter?'

'Shut up Snivellus!'

* * *

><p>The next day wasn't easy as everyone was forced to accept that Dean and Tracey really were gone since the funeral had been and gone and their bodies were buried in the ground outside of the school. However the day wasn't made any easier for them when Hermione gasped out loud while reading her copy of the daily prophet.<p>

'This is ridiculous!' Hermione shrieked from where she was sitting in the middle of the group, 'has anyone seen this?'

They all shook their heads.

'No, what's wrong?' Sadie asked, trying to look at the front page, she caught a glimpse of a large photo of Dean. Hermione shook her head angrily, her hair bouncing as she did so, lately her glamour charms hadn't been up to standard so her hair was frizzier than usual.

'This article in the prophet about,' Hermione's voice caught but she composed herself, 'about Dean and Tracey.'

It was like a dark cloud had fallen over the group. Hermione and Daphne had recovered physically but the scars would remain, for Daphne it was slightly easier because she could hide hers unless she was in underwear or a bikini. Hermione hadn't been that lucky, the scar on her arm with the word 'mudblood' had faded but if you looked close enough you could still make out the words. The scars inflicted by the torture in the cave covered more of Hermione than Daphne; they were on her arms, backs and legs, luckily the tops of her legs so she wouldn't be too self-conscious about wearing dresses or skirts. Hermione had a small scar above her eyebrow that would always be there, but again she'd been relatively lucky as it wasn't particularly obvious. The big battle over the last week for not only the girls, but the entire group was the emotional aspect and although it had been slow there had been progress. Harry had a horrible feeling that this article was going to change that.

'_Dean Thomas, Gryffindor, war hero and great friend of Harry Potter was murdered tragically, along with his girlfriend, Tracey, on Valentine's Day. The death of this young man and his young girlfriend shakes the wizarding world who thought they were finally safe. Death Eaters, followers of the late Lord Voldemort, were responsible for these deaths and it only goes to show that the danger has not yet passed. Dean had so much more to give to the world, he was a keen artist and could have made a fantastic career in the art of portrait enchanting. Our source at Hogwarts School has told us that Harry Potter is grieving the death of his close friend who he shared a dorm with throughout his years at the school. Our prayers are with his family. Remember readers; don't let your guard down, the world will never be as safe as it once was.'_

Hermione was shaking with anger as she threw the paper down onto the table, 'his girlfriend Tracey!' she shouted, her bottom lip wobbling as it did when she was trying not to cry.

'They didn't even mention her second name!' Daphne hissed angrily, Harry nodded so hard he hurt his neck, 'they can't just pretend she doesn't exist because she didn't fight or because she wasn't a Gryffindor, they can't do that!'

'Apparently they can!' Draco said, his voice rising.

'Well they aren't getting away with it,' Harry said simply.

'We're going down to the Prophet to deal with this ourselves,' Neville added, he sometimes wondered if he and Harry could read each other's minds.

'Exactly!' Harry said assertively. Draco and Theo nodded, 'We're coming too,' Theo said, speaking for both of them, he knew Draco well enough to be able to predict his next action 99% of the time.

'I can't see what I can do,' Hermione said honestly and Daphne sighed, 'I think this one time it might be best to leave it to the boys.'

'Well,' Draco reasoned, 'together we are pretty much the 4 biggest, most influential families of our generation.'

Susan laughed, 'and the 4 cockiest guys at Hogwarts,' she added jokingly.

Theo just grinned, 'Thank you, thank you very much,' he said, pretending to bow.

'So Draco, what are you really? Black or Malfoy?' Hannah asked curiously, she'd heard him being called both recently, 'lots of people still call you Malfoy but some call you Black.'

Draco shrugged as he replied, 'It's personal preference to be honest Hannah, my name is technically Draco Lucius Malfoy Black, so I guess officially its Black, but most people still call me Malfoy.'

'You're always gonna be Malfoy to me when I'm pissed off with you,' Harry teased, 'just to relive the old days, you know?'

Daphne laughed, 'I remember that,' she said, giggling, 'when you used to insult each other in corridors and it was always a battle of who was better than the other.'

'Aw,' Harry sighed as he said sentimentally, 'those were the days.'

Hermione managed to laugh too, the conversation had taken an amusing turn, 'I remember it too, and the times when you couldn't see me without insulting me.'

'Except in 6th year,' Draco said truthfully, 'you got so pretty over the summer I couldn't think of anything to insult you about.'

The girls all around the table said 'aww' while Theo, Harry and Neville all pretended to puke up over their breakfast.

The fun and laughter was so refreshing, but it didn't last long as McGonagall approached the group of 8th years with a solemn face, 'Potter, Malfoy, Bones,' she said quietly and their hearts felt like they would beat out of their chests as they realised what this was about, 'The Minister for Magic would like to talk to you in my office after breakfast.'

She didn't elaborate as she left the hall and the 3 'trouble-makers' shared worried looks. Sadie gave them an encouraging smile, 'Don't worry, you won't get in trouble. You defended yourself; he'd never be able to expel you for that.'

'I hope your right Sadie,' Harry sighed as he got to his feet and waited for Draco and Susan to join him.

'Ready to face the music?' Harry asked Susan who understood the Muggle phrase more than Draco did, she nodded and Harry put his arm through hers, Draco did the same from the other side and together they made their way to the Headmistresses office.

* * *

><p>When they arrived in McGonagall's office and silently took their seats their worried state increased as they saw Kingsley standing by the desk with a solemn face.<p>

'I'm sorry to do this again,' Kingsley said honestly, McGonagall was glaring at him which wasn't a good sign, 'but the Ministry is pressing me to take action in some way. Harry I'm happy to pardon you and Susan with a formal warning because of your contribution to the war, but I'm afraid Mr. Malfoy will have to go on trial.'

'No way!' Harry said instantly, he was on his feet already.

From where she stood at the other side of her desk McGonagall gave Harry a small smile and said proudly, 'see Minister, I told you Mr. Potter would not agree to the arrangement.'

'You can do this one of two ways Kingsley,' Harry said from where he was standing on the opposite side of the desk, out of the corner of his eye he saw Dumbledore smile and wink at him from his portrait on the wall, 'you can try all of us equally with a court hearing, or you can pardon us all.'

Kingsley may have been the Minister for Magic but that didn't stop him from being intimidated by the boy who lived, he didn't do it often but Harry knew how to abuse his power and status. He only did it for the greater good.

'Harry has a point Kingsley,' Dumbledore said kindly, still smiling from his portrait, 'and if you pardon all 3 of the students you may also get back on Minerva's good side.'

Harry hid a smile as he saw Kingsley mull this over and McGonagall glare at Dumbledore's portrait.

'There is too much pressure on me from the Ministry for a full pardon,' Kingsley said honestly, he sighed, 'this job is not what I thought it would be. I do not call the shots, I must do what the people want and what those of high status in the ministry want,' he shook his head irritably.

'I'm afraid you will all be fined 100 Galleons each,' Kingsley said finally.

This didn't faze Harry or Draco but Susan gasped, 'I don't have 100 Galleons!'

'I'll pay your fine,' Draco and Harry said simultaneously, making McGonagall smile but she hid it behind her hand.

'Pay half each?' Harry reasoned and Draco shrugged, 'Sure,' he said simply and Susan gaped at them in shock, 'Really? You'd do that? It's a lot of money.'

'I don't mean to sound cocky Susan,' Harry said politely, 'but I get paid 100 galleons to do an interview for the Prophet, I have more than enough money to cover your fine, and it was kind of our fault you got kidnapped anyway, you didn't start Prince Patriot's after all.'

'Do you want the money now or later?' Draco asked casually and McGonagall was still having to hide her smile, this punishment wasn't really a punishment at all to two people as rich as Harry and Draco.

Kingsley looked startled at how they had taken this but replied, 'Uh now would be great,' he said.

Harry clicked his fingers and Kreacher appeared next to him a second later, 'Hey Kreacher can you fetch 150 galleons from my account and another 150 from Draco's and bring them here please?'

'Straight away Master Harry,' Kreacher squeaked as he disappeared with another crack.

'You have become a good man Harry,' Dumbledore said with a watery smile.

Harry was surprised by the comment and it made him blush, 'thanks,' he said simply.

'Did you know Dumbledore?' said a very familiar voice, 'that Potter admires you?'

Dumbledore turned to the man who had just appeared next to him in his portrait, 'is that right Severus?'

'Indeed,' Severus said smoothly, 'he worships you to the extent that he even got his nose broken at a funeral.'

Dumbledore chuckled and Harry glared at Severus, 'technically, it was _after_ a funeral,' he pointed out which only made Dumbledore laugh some more, 'I see however that you allowed Madam Pomfrey to fix yours up.'

'I am quite fond of my nose Professor,' Harry said to the old man who chuckled once more, 'ah of course, what a fine nose it is.'

Before Harry could ponder anymore on this odd comment Kreacher reappeared and handed Harry and Draco their money which they then gave straight to Kingsley who wrote them a receipt.

'Our debts are paid then Kingsley?' Harry asked the Minister who nodded and even smiled at the Gryffindor, 'they are indeed.'

'And our scores are settled?' Harry asked, he didn't want his friendship with Kingsley to be tampered by the events; he'd already lost so much in such a short amount of time.

'Of course,' Kingsley said with a genuine smile, 'I look forward to seeing both you and Mr. Malfoy at the annual Ministry fundraiser in April.'

'Is our compulsory attendance part of our punishment?' Draco asked jokingly, causing Kingsley to laugh, 'Yes, I suppose so; they do tend to be rather dry affairs. However I believe this year will be different.'

'I think you're right,' Harry said with a smile, 'well if our business here is finished we'd better be off, we're missing Potions and I've always wanted to know how to brew a slug swelling potion...'

'Ah, always keen to learn,' Kingsley joked, 'yes, you are free to leave.'

'Thank you,' Draco said with a smile, 'and I think you have some business of your own to attend too.'

Kingsley chuckled as he glanced at McGonagall who was standing rather stiffly in the corner, 'Indeed,' he said, a little darkly as Harry and Draco left the office.

The last thing they heard on their way down the staircase was Kingsley's deep booming voice asking, 'Am I out of the danger zone yet or should I prepare my shield charm?'

* * *

><p>By the time the day had ended Draco, Harry, Theo and Neville were more irritated about the newspaper than they had been that morning. Through talking about it during the day and finding out how annoyed other 8th years were their annoyance grew and the moment the final bell rang at 4.30pm they left the school and apparated to Diagon Alley.<p>

They felt like celebrities as they made their way through Diagon Alley, having to keep their heads down so they weren't recognised. Sometimes Harry and Neville forgot that they were war heroes, but Draco and Theo could never forget that to the rest of the wizarding world they were famous for being Slytherin scum and the children of people who had murdered their families.

When they finally reached the offices of the Daily Prophet they marched in with their heads held high and were gaped at by the scrawny mousy haired receptionist at the desk.

'We're here to talk to the editor,' Harry said firmly and the woman merely nodded and hurried up a set of stairs. The office was dingy and dark with lots of little cubicles which people were gaping out of at the moment. The air smelled off and the tapping of typewriters could be heard over anything else in the silent room.

The receptionist reappeared but had apparently lost the ability to speak as she motioned for them to go up the stairs she'd just rushed up. Feeling like they'd accomplished something the group of 4 followed her into a small office where the editor of the Daily Prophet sat with his feet on his desk, throwing a small quaffle through a golden hoop and watching it soar back to him. He looked a few years older than them and was wearing expensive robes and red rimmed glasses with jewels encrusted onto them. According to the name plate on his desk his name was 'Sebastian Harrington'.

'Harry Potter,' Harrington said in awe when they walked into the room, Harry at the front of the group, he sounded very camp, 'what an honour it is.'

'You won't be saying that in a minute,' Harry said darkly, leaning against the wall of the small office. Harrington just smiled a creepy smile, his eyes looked too big for his face and his dark brown hair was long and tied back into a ponytail.

'We've come here to demand a reprint,' Harry began, then allowing Draco to take over, 'your article this morning barely mentioned Tracey Davis, she died too you know, it wasn't just Dean.'

'It wouldn't have sold,' Harrington said simply, 'no one cares about a poor Slytherin girl who fell in love with a hero and was reformed,' he pretended to yawn, 'boring!'

'It doesn't matter if it's boring, it's the truth!' Theo exclaimed angrily.

Harrington rolled his eyes, 'the truth doesn't sell papers darling, drama does.'

'You have 4 of the most influential names in the wizarding world standing in front of you,' Neville said dangerously, 'we can seriously affect business if we had a reason too.'

'Are you threatening me? Ooh it's dramatic!' Harrington said, giving them all an annoying grin.

'Reprint the article and talk about Tracey,' Theo said, standing close to the desk and looking down on Harrington with a glare that would make Harry run for the hills.

'Can't, it's out, it can't be changed, that's the news baby,' Harrington said carelessly, but this didn't faze Draco or Harry, they had a plan, the other two just didn't know about it yet.

'Okay,' Harry said simply, 'fine, well, we tried,' he sighed and Draco nodded, 'yeah, guess that's all we can do, come on guys.'

Theo and Neville knew something was up as they followed their friends from the room; they wouldn't have given up that easily if they didn't have a plan B.

'So...' Neville began when they were out on the street which was now considerably emptier since most of the shops had now shut for the night, 'what are we going to do?'

Draco and Harry made eye contact and Harry grinned mischievously, oh they had a plan alright.

* * *

><p>It all began on Friday morning. The boys had come back from Diagon Alley and told the girls sadly that they'd tried and failed to get a reprint. It was as they sat eating breakfast on Friday morning that everything changed.<p>

An owl arrived with Hermione's prophet which she casually unrolled and glanced at the front page of, this casual glance caused her to choke on her pumpkin juice and spit it out over her breakfast.

'They did a reprint!' Hermione exclaimed loudly, and the others hurried over to look at the picture on the front page which was now a picture of Dean and Tracey together at the Yule Ball.

'I thought you said...' Hermione said slowly, but then shook her head, 'it doesn't matter, all that matters is that the truth is out there,' she smiled as she skimmed the article.

'Read it out loud Mione,' Daphne said from where she was sitting next to her friend. Hermione smiled; 'Sure,' she said as she cleared her throat and got ready to read out the new article.

'_**A VALENTINE'S DAY TRAGEDY**_

_Article written by Roger Davies_

_(Reprint of edition from Monday the 23__rd __of Feb.)_

_When Dean Thomas (19 years old, Gryffindor and war hero) and Tracey Davis (18 years old, Slytherin) imagined Valentine's Day I'm sure they imagined a happy affair, but sadly that was not to be. In a tragic incident 6 girls were kidnapped on Valentine's Day, taken from the village of Hogsmeade where students from Hogwarts are permitted to visit on certain weekends. Hermione Granger (19 years old, ally and friend of the boy-who-lived and war heroine), Daphne Greengrass (19 years old, Slytherin), Hannah Abbott (18 years old, Hufflepuff, dueller for the light in the war), Susan Bones (18 years old, Hufflepuff and also dueller for the light) and Sadie Cauldwell (18 years old, Slytherin, daughter of Isenbard Cauldwell the inventor of floo powder pots) were the other girls abducted with Tracey. My sources tell me that Miss. Granger and Miss. Greengrass were both tortured to reveal information that their long-term boyfriends, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy respectively, had discussed with them._

_The people responsible for the ruthless attack were Death Eaters Evan Rosier and Thorfinn Rowle. The entire attack was perpetrated by Faith Burbage (the secretary to the Minister for Magic and younger sister of deceased Muggle Studies teacher Charity Burbage) who was enraged that a certain group of students, who named themselves 'Prince Patriots', had achieved their goal to get a portrait of Severus Snape (the man she blamed for her sister's death) placed within the walls of Hogwarts. The campaign was set up by and led by Potter, Malfoy, Neville Longbottom and Theodore Nott (son of Alfred Nott, governor of Hogwarts, and head of the 3__rd__ richest wizarding family) who combined are practically wizarding royalty. Together with their close friend Dean and bounty hunter Percy Weasley (also co-founder and owner of 'P + R Law Firm' which he shares with his younger brother Ronald Weasley) the group decided to find and save the girls._

_Disaster struck when the kidnapped girls were found in a cave deep below the mountains on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. A battle began that left 5 dead, Rosier, Rowle and Burbage were among these five and Potter, Malfoy and Bones each received a 100 galleon fine for their use of the killing curse as justified by the Minister for Magic who described it as, 'quick thinking defensive magic that saved many lives'. Unfortunately amongst the chaos Thomas and Davis were hit with killing curses, their lives ending on the day that Thomas was planning to propose. The story is tragic and our hearts and prayers here at the Prophet go out to both families. May both Dean Thomas and Tracey Davis rest in peace.'_

'Wow,' Sadie said, in awe at how amazing the article was, 'that's a big difference from 'we love Dean but don't even know Tracey's second name', isn't it?'

'Yeah,' Hermione said, she was in shock too but she was also frowning, like she was trying to figure out something very complicated in her head.

'What do you think made them change their mind?' Susan asked, like Sadie oblivious to what Daphne and Hermione were in the middle of figuring out.

'Which one of you bought the prophet?' Daphne asked with a small smile, pleased that she had been the first to figure it out.

'None of them technically,' Hermione said with narrowed eyes set on the 4 boys.

'You are both correct,' Harry said honestly, 'so to speak,' Daphne had missed the cheeky grin Harry currently had on his face.

'We all did,' Neville said with a grin, 'between us we know own the prophet.'

'What?' Hannah asked in surprise, 'you don't have enough money to co-own the prophet!'

Neville's grin widened, 'I do now,' he said, 'Dad felt a bit out of touch after so many years as a vegetable so he made me head of the family with access to all of our accounts, I'm as rich as Draco and Theo now.'

'Wow,' Hannah and Sadie said at the same time, smiling at each other as they did so, since Tracey's death they had begun to get closer.

'So you control the news now?' Hermione asked in amusement, the corner of her mouth quirking up.

'Yep,' Draco said smugly, 'and our first action was to pass a law stating that the news must always be truthful.'

'A law?' Susan asked, laughing, 'you realise you own a newspaper, not the Ministry, right?'

'Whatever,' Theo said casually, 'we passed a news law and since we own the news it must be obeyed so it's basically the same thing.'

'Right,' Susan chuckled, shaking her head in amusement.

'Our second action as the new owners of the prophet was to sack that idiot Harrington and appoint Rodger Davies as editor,' Harry added and Neville nodded, 'don't you think it was a good idea? Who knew he was that good?'

'I know,' Sadie said, sounding surprised, 'I always thought he was a bit of an airhead.'

'So did I,' Hermione admitted, 'but apparently not!'

'As co-owners of the prophet do you know everything that goes into it before it's published?' Hermione asked with a smirk and Harry frowned, 'No...we just give them funding and make them change things we don't like...why?'

Hermione grinned as she turned to page 6 of the paper and turned it around to show the boys, 'it's this year's '10 Most Wondrous Wizards and Witches list' and look who's top of it.'

'What?' Theo exclaimed indignantly, '5! Last year I was number 3!'

'2!' Draco said loudly, glaring at the paper, 'I was number 1 last year!'

'3!' Harry snorted, 'I saved the wizarding world, I should have beaten Draco at least!'

'Number one!' Neville said slowly, gaping at his picture smiling at him from the paper, 'number one? Seriously?'

'Everybody loves a shy, unexpected hero Neville,' Susan teased but the comment was a little too soon and Hannah gave Susan a dirty look for it.

'Whose number 4?' Hannah asked, craning her head to get a look at the list, she couldn't quite see because of where she was sitting.

'Viktor Krum,' Hermione replied through a mouthful of toast.

Susan snorted and Hermione asked, 'what happened with you two? You seemed to really hit it off!'

Susan shook her head, 'it didn't work out, he trains from 5am till midnight 6 days a week, he said it to me straight that he didn't want a girlfriend, he just wanted fun,; she sighed, 'I've had enough of being someone's fun when they're having a bad time,' her eyes flickering from Harry who she'd fooled around with in the summer when he was single and on the club scene a lot, and Neville who she'd dated in 6th year.

'You'll find someone who wants to date you Susan,' Daphne said with a smile, 'and when you do the flings won't mean anything anymore and you'll be gladly you waited for a decent guy to come along,' she grinned at Harry who smiled broadly back.

'I hope you're right,' Susan said simply, looking back down at her breakfast.

'Wow! Percy is number 8!' Hermione said in shock, 'even I have to admit the new look suits him...' there were giggles as Harry looked at Hermione and shook his head in disbelief.

'I'm not surprised at number 6 or 7,' Daphne said casually, she was sitting next to Hermione and had her head leaning on her friends shoulder to look at the paper.

'Oliver Wood,' Hermione agreed, smirking at Daphne who grinned, 'for a Gryffindor he isn't bad,' she winked at Harry who only chuckled.

'And 7 is still Gilderoy Lockhart, so predictable,' Sadie said, rolling her eyes 'I mean he's been in St. Mungo's for long enough now.'

'At least he's not number one anymore,' Hermione pointed out and Daphne chuckled, 'True,' she said.

'You can't talk Hermione, you fancied him like mad in 2nd year!'

'Oh hush Harry!'

Hermione's cheeks were still pink as she said, 'Number 9 is Ron!'

'I guess I can kind of see the appeal...' Hannah tried to reason diplomatically but Daphne wrinkled her nose, 'no offence Hermione but I don't see it at all!'

'Me either!' Sadie said, adding with a laugh, 'but we sort of were brought up brainwashed into hating anything with a 'Weasley' at the end of it.'

'Whose number 10?' Harry asked, quite intrigued by the list even though it was a girly thing.

Hermione glanced at the list one last time, 'Uh, Roger Davies,' she said as Draco grabbed the paper from her hands and spread it out on the table in front of himself, Harry, Theo and Neville, 'right,' he said, turning the page to the 'Wondrous Witches' section, 'time to see what your ratings are.'

'Daphne, you've been knocked off of the top spot,' Draco said with a smirk, 'Hermione, congratulations baby, you're number one!'

Hermione gasped, 'Seriously?'

'Really!' Harry said, 'and Daph, you're number 2!'

'Number 2 dating a number 3? Oh I don't know about that Harry,' Daphne joked with a wink, but Harry only laughed.

'Sadie you're number 3,' Theo said, 'two ranks higher than last year,' he hi-fived his girlfriend and Neville shouted happily 'Hannah, you made number 5!'

'And Susan...' Neville said, glancing at the paper once more, he was sure he'd seen her name, 'ah, there you are, number 4.'

'Not bad,' Susan said with a chuckle, 'I didn't even make last year's list.'

'Neither did I actually,' Hannah said thoughtfully, 'I guess the war is useful for making Hufflepuffs get noticed.'

'True,' Neville laughed as he looked back to the list and made a face as he whispered, 'Lavender made number 6, clearly they don't know about her psychotic personality,' this made several people in the vicinity of their group snigger.

'And number 7 is Gabrielle,' Harry said, making a face, the noises of disagreement the others made let him know they didn't think she deserved the spot either.

'Fleur is number 8,' Harry then added, whistling, 'oh she is not going to like being beaten by her sister,' he laughed as he imagined Fleurs reaction when she saw the list.

'Number 9 is Cho Chang,' Theo said, winking at them, 'I'd agree with that.'

Sadie glared at him, 'Theo,' she said, her tone a warning.

'I mean, I agree she's rank 9 and you're 3 because you're so much more amazing than her!' Theo said smoothly, but Sadie saw right through him, she gave him a wry smile, 'nice save,' she said with a smirk. Theo grinned, 'I thought so myself, thank you my dear.'

'And last, but not least,' Draco said, Harry added, 'drum roll please,' which Neville provided.

'Is,' Draco said, 'Katie Bell!'

They laughed at the dramatics of it and they could see McGonagall smiling at the head table.

'So today we have learned,' Daphne joked, 'that Hermione and I are both too hot for our boyfriends!' Laughter echoed around the table as she joked, 'we should just run away together and elope Mione.'

They all laughed again and it felt amazing to be able to laugh like that, and feel happiness again. In a way losing Dean and Tracey had made them cherish life and realise just how lucky that they were.

_**TBC **_


	43. I'm Never Gonna Be Good Enough for You

**The 8****th**** Year **

**Chapter 43 – I'm Never Gonna Be Good Enough for You**

The days following the reprint of Dean and Tracey's story in the paper were significantly cheerier than they had been since the death of the two 8th years. Daphne was struggling more than the others to adapt and was still aiming comments or questions at Tracey with a smile that dropped from her face the moment she remembered why she wasn't answering.

The final few days of February were both difficult and yet hopeful, for some reason that they couldn't explain every member of the group of friends knew things would get better when this horrible month ended and March began. Harry suspected it was for reasons similar to May, after the final battle the year before the dawning of June and summer had never felt so good, yet so dreaded at the same time. He also knew that each year February, along with May, would be a tough month as memories flooded back. Despite it all however, and this was something Harry was constantly reminding the others of because he knew firsthand how death affected people, each year it would get easier until eventually on February the 14th Dean and Tracey would be remembered with a fond smile, as he now remembered Sirius on the anniversary of his death.

On the 28th of February Lavender celebrated her 19th birthday and had the sense to not throw a big party amongst several grieving 8th years. Harry suspected that this might have been due to a nudge from Hermione that if she wanted people to like her more she should show a little more decorum, regardless she along with a couple other of Hogwarts resident airheads as Daphne liked to call them, headed out for the day to Hogsmeade instead. The usual Saturday night party was abandoned and instead Harry and Draco played chess while Neville read a book and the others studied for their potions project, having gotten back their first drafts no one had done as well as they thought they had.

It wasn't what happened on Saturday that made February end on a high note, a highly amusing one that was, it was what happened on Sunday the 29th of February because 1999 was a leap year. It was mid-afternoon and the common room was filled with 8th years lounging and generally not doing much, apart from Hermione who was frowning and writing very quickly.

Then Lavender walked through the portrait hole with Seamus and everybody naturally stopped what they were doing to look at the couple and nosily find out what was going on. It appeared Lavender was trying to get Seamus to stop walking away from her.

'Seamus stop!' Lavender finally said with a glare and the Irish boy sighed heavily, stopped and turned to face her, 'what?'

Lavender smiled nervously, and said, 'Well it's a leap year and on the 29th of February on leap years the woman can propose to the man,' she began and the look on Seamus's face was either extreme shock or horror, Harry suspected it was the latter.

'So, Seamus, will you marry me?' Lavender asked and from the smile on her face and the hope in her eyes Harry felt genuinely sorry for her, because he knew she was about to get shot down. Lavender had her heart in the right place, but she just needed to be less brash and think things through.

Seamus's cheeks went from pink to red to purple faster than Harry had seen his Uncle Vernon's face do so, which was impressive. Harry glanced at Hermione who was looking sympathetically at Lavender as giggling broke out across the common room. Daphne chuckled next to him and Harry knew that she was still suffering from Tracey's death, but he wouldn't put up with embarrassing a person like that, 'Stop it,' he said, not angrily, or loudly, 'just stop it, she's going to be embarrassed enough.'

Daphne didn't angrily reply or shout or storm away, in fact she gaped at him in surprise for a moment and then looked guilty, 'sorry,' she muttered, 'you're right, I'd hate it if that was me up there.'

Then came the inevitable explosion of anger from Seamus, and it was harsher than Harry could have imagined, 'Why would I want to marry you Lavender? You're a complete slut, all you are is a good screw while we're in school! Did you honestly think that I would hang around with you after that?' he laughed a bitter laugh that reminded Harry of Ron during one of their last conversations before he was expelled. Lavender was already in tears, and Seamus wasn't finished yet, 'No, I'll not marry you, and also, I'm done with you.'

He turned and stormed out of the common room and the portrait hole slid shut behind him. The common room had been quiet but now it erupted as several people began to laugh, Harry was furious and stood up on the table to make that clear.

'SHUT UP!' he roared and silence fell straight away, 'don't you dare laugh at someone or humiliate them if you haven't had that experience yourself! Speaking as someone who had to put up with it throughout my whole school life no one deserves that, so leave her alone and get back to whatever it was you were doing!'

The common room remained silent and Harry was pleased to see several ashamed faces look down. Lavender was still crying as she left the room and with a small smile at Daphne, Harry hurried after her. He caught up with her at the bottom of the tower and grabbed her by the arm so he could pull her into the nearest room which was an abandoned Muggle Studies classroom filled with items like cameras, telephones and televisions.

'Don't go after him,' Harry said as he pushed himself up onto one of the desks. Lavender frowned, wiping her tears with her sleeve, 'why?'

'Because he's not worth it, he has serious anger issues and he's a bastard,' Harry said simply which made Lavender crack a small smile, 'thank you, for what you said back there.'

Harry shrugged, 'got to stick up for my fellow Gryffindors, regardless of any disagreements in the past,' he said.

Lavender nodded and sat down on one of the desks across from him, she stared at her feet for a minute or two, 'why did you come after me?' she asked.

Harry sighed, 'because you need help Lavender and you need friends, real ones, not the people you surround yourself with.'

'What do you mean?' Lavender asked sharply, though Harry was pleased to see that she was no longer crying.

'You had a good friend in Parvati but unfortunately you messed that one up for yourself,' Harry said and Lavender made a face, 'I miss Parvati,' she admitted, 'but the blame isn't all on me, ever since Poliakoff came back she spent all of her time with him.'

Harry didn't really know how to respond to that, life advice he could give, friend advice, not so much, 'maybe so, but what I mean is Isabelle and Tessie, I know you aren't at their level. I'm not going to pretend here Lavender you don't get the best grades, but you aren't stupid and you have a chance to make something for yourself, but those two girls only care about how they look and what people think of them, and because of that nobody likes them. You've become a bit of an outcast this year and I know you've noticed that, but it's since you started spending more time with those two girls.'

Lavender remained silent for a moment as she thought about this, 'I don't really have anyone else,' she admitted and Harry nodded, 'I know, but as long as you drop the act you're welcome to spend time with us.'

'What act?' Lavender asked although from the look on her face Harry thought she knew she put an act on.

'The dumb blonde act, Lavender you only failed one of your O.W.L's and let's face it, I reckon about half of our year failed History of Magic,' Harry said and Lavender chuckled but didn't say anymore, 'I don't know why you do it, but you don't need too, if anything people will like you more if you let them see the real you.'

Lavender was silent again, and Harry was thinking about leaving when she did speak again 5 minutes later, 'I suppose I put it up to protect myself,' she admitted, 'I've never really fitted in with the other Gryffindors, I'm a pureblood with Slytherin parents, I'm not brave, I don't know why I was placed here.'

'Lavender, the sorting hat wanted to put me into Slytherin,' Harry admitted, something that he had shared with very few people, Daphne didn't even know, 'I was a hat-stall, it couldn't decide and I begged it to not put me in Slytherin so I became a Gryffindor. I don't know anything about your upbringing but maybe you just didn't want to be like your parents. As for bravery, I think you belong in Gryffindor more than the stupid girls you surround yourself with, you fought in the final battle when they didn't and you were a member of the DA, anyone in Harry Potter's army deserves their place in Gryffindor.'

Lavenders smile was genuine as she pushed herself off of the desk and hugged Harry, 'thank you,' she said and for once Harry thought he saw something other than the silly girl, he saw her for who she truly was which was a good person. He knew Hermione agreed, she had gotten on well with Lavender in first and second year before everyone began to grow up. Harry pondered this as Lavender left the room, he'd even gotten on well with Seamus then, in fact he'd gotten on well with Seamus throughout most of his years at Hogwarts, but something had snapped inside him since the war, he'd changed and like the change in Ron, Harry didn't like it.

'That was a very good speech,' a disembodied voice said, making Harry jump, he looked towards the corner he'd heard it in and saw Daphne taking off his invisibility cloak, he grinned, 'such a Slytherin.'

'You could have been too,' she said, so she'd obviously overheard that part of their conversation, if not all of it.

Harry merely shrugged and let Daphne continue, 'you did a good thing there, with Lavender, every girl has felt like that at some point, I mean look at how I was before you straightened me out.'

Harry smiled fondly at his girlfriend, 'I wouldn't say I straightened you out, just rounded your sharp edges a bit,' he said as he kissed her lightly on the lips.

'So you nearly became a Slytherin?' Daphne asked, like Harry knew she would; now she'd heard it he knew she'd be curious to find out more.

Harry shrugged, trying to figure out how to phrase what he needed to say, 'Like you heard while being nosy over there, the hat was stuck between Slytherin or Gryffindor, I still don't know whether the hat was detecting the part of Voldemorts soul inside me or was just reading my own. I realise now I'm similar in some ways to Voldemort, we were both orphans with lonely childhoods who found Hogwarts a sanctuary and hated the summer holidays. Either way I begged with it to not put me in Slytherin and it took my opinion into consideration so I became a Gryffindor.'

'Does it bother you? Not knowing if it was your soul or the part of his that made the hat consider Slytherin?' Daphne asked as they made their way out of the room.

Harry thought about this momentarily then shook his head, 'No, either way I am and always will be a Gryffindor. If my children are in Gryffindor I'll be proud, but I'll be just as proud if they are in any other house, even Slytherin.'

Daphne smiled as they reached the top of the spiral staircase, 'well I think that's very wise and mature of you.'

Harry returned her smile, 'I can be mature sometimes,' he joked as they made their way into the common room where they were bombarded by the others the moment they sat down by the fire.

'What happened?'

'Where did you go?'

'What did you talk about?'

'Why were you gone so long?'

Harry laughed at the nosiness of them all, 'I just gave Lavender some friendly advice about who she surrounds herself with and how she behaves,' he said honestly, 'I also told her she's welcome to be around us as long as she drops the dumb blonde act.'

'Well, I don't have any problems with that,' Sadie said, from where she was reading a book in an armchair, 'I'm sure she's a nice person underneath the facade.'

'It's just a shame she's hidden underneath it for so long,' Hermione said, causing Draco to shrug, 'it's hard when you put up walls to let them down.'

'He's right, almost all Slytherins have some sort of facade and once it's up, it's hard to take it down,' Theo added, and Harry was surprised by the level of support for the girl they all generally found quite annoying.

'Oh, I meant to ask, while you were away we agreed that next week might be the best time to spend some time at the Malfoy Manor to research our projects,' Draco said casually from where he was lounging on the sofa with his legs over both Hermione and Theo.

'It's not due in until the 1st of April!' Harry exclaimed, some things hadn't changed, like the fact that Harry almost always did his homework a day or two before it was due in.

Hermione rolled her eyes, 'Harry this project is our N.E.W.T level grade, we don't have an exam, you can't just do it in the night before like you usually do.'

'Fine,' Harry agreed as Neville chuckled from his spot next to him on the couch, 'so who's going?'

'All of us, and Susan,' Theo piped up, 'almost all of us are doing our project on something to do with blood so the library at the manor will be useful.'

'Fair enough,' Harry said as he yawned and stretched, 'Hermione, why are you coming?'

Hermione frowned, 'what do you mean?'

'Well I thought you were doing your project on the study of medical potions,' Harry said, wondering why she seemed so offended.

'No Harry,' Hermione said, sounding exasperated, 'it's much more complex than that, it's a study of vaccinations in pureblood children and Malfoy Manor has several medical records that Abraxas Malfoy kept.'

'Right,' Harry muttered, feeling a bit stupid, 'so, tomorrow it is, are we sneaking out and apparating?'

'Yep,' Draco said, 'we'll meet at the gates after dinner, if we go out in a big group it will be obvious what we're up too.'

Harry nodded and yawned once more, 'well I'm going to bed, goodnight,' he said as he made his way up the staircase to his dorm room. He was both excited and anxious at the information he might discover in the library at Malfoy Manor, he knew for sure whatever material he used from the place would be much more pureblood biased than anything at the ministry.

* * *

><p>When the first of March hit, Harry was glad to realize that he had been right; it felt good and fresh like a new start, just like he'd hoped it might. The first flowers were just beginning to open up and the frost on the ground was finally thawing. Harry woke up with a content sigh and stretched.<p>

'Draco!'

'What?' the Slytherin mumbled as Harry pulled the curtains open and let the bright sunlight shine into the room, the air was warmer and the sun was brighter, it put him in an instant good mood.

'It's March, it's a fresh start.'

'It's also 5am, go back to sleep,' Draco whined and Harry grinned as he fell back onto his bed, some things never changed but he was happy about that.

When they arrived in Malfoy Manor Harry felt a lump rise in his throat and from next to him a hand grabbed his, he squeezed it tightly and wondered for a split second why Hermione had grabbed his hand, not Draco's, but then they were steered away from this part of the house, Harry and Hermione both found it hard to steer their eyes away from the closed door to the room where Hermione had been tortured. They followed the others around a corner and into a library that made Hermione gasp in shock; it was twice the size of the library at Hogwarts. The only other people displaying surprise were Neville and Hannah, the others had probably already been here and to Harry a library was a library.

Draco muttered a few spells to conjure up tables and directed everyone around the library, within half an hour they were all silent as they poured through books, Harry was annoying Daphne by yawning every 5 minutes and closing books loudly and sending dust flying up into the air, one thing he doubted he'd ever be was studious, he still preferred practical work and he couldn't wait to start Auror training.

He did have to admit though, as bored as he was, he got some good information for his project in the first hour. It was getting to the hour and a half mark when Harry really began to get bored, he was about to suggest that they call it a night when Hermione spoke for the first time since she'd gotten drawn in by her research.

'Draco...I thought you were an only child,' Hermione said slowly, not looking up from her book which wasn't really a book but a compilation of birth and death records for the years 1970 to 1990.

'I am,' Draco said, as if this were obvious as he too looked up from his book.

'You mean...You don't know?'

'Don't know about what?' Draco snapped as he made his way over to the table Hermione was sitting at with Neville and Sadie who were working on similar projects. The others, being as nosy as they were, made their way over too.

'Draco, there is a birth record in here for an 'Areya Callidora Malfoy, she was born on the 8th of June 1983 and her parents are listed as Mr. Lucius Abraxas Malfoy and Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy (nee Black).'

'What?' Draco hissed as he looked down at the record, there it was, in black and white but he still didn't believe it.

'There are baby photos of me, and photos of me from the age of 5 onwards but nothing in the middle,' Draco realised and Hermione then flicked through the book, swallowing when she realised her fears were confirmed.

'What is it?' Harry asked and Hermione swallowed once more before reading aloud, 'Araya Callidora Malfoy. Born: June the 18th, 1983. Died: December the 24th, 1985, at 1 years and 6 months of age. Cause of death: accidental.'

Draco stared at the record in silence for a moment and the others were almost holding their breath, afraid of how he might react.

'I'm going to talk to my Father,' Draco said simply, and he left the room, Hermione and Theo both made moves to follow him but Harry stopped them, 'Let him go, he needs to do this on his own.'

'How do you know?' Theo asked angrily and Hermione placed her hand on the Slytherins shoulder, 'this is Harry, he knows about these things.'

Theo grumbled a little but didn't try to go after Draco.

'I love how he just left us alone in his big mansion house,' Neville said with a laugh as he tried to lighten the mood, no one was talking about Draco's mysterious sister.

'If we weren't so polite we could have just wandered around the place,' Hannah said as she too laughed.

'We wouldn't want to do that,' Theo said, with an amused smirk, 'at least one of us would end up in St. Mungo's.'

'I can believe that,' Hermione and Harry said simultaneously with a smile at each other as they remembered clearing out Grimmauld place.

'So who fancies a stop off at the Hogs Head on the way back to Hogwarts?' Theo asked as he made a beeline for the door with the others following, any excuse to stop working. When Hermione looked at the book and hesitated Sadie rolled her eyes, 'we'll be back tomorrow Hermione, come on live a little,' and Hermione smiled and got up, 'sounds like a great idea.'

Harry glanced sideways at Daphne as they made their way out of the Manor, she'd been very quiet.

'I have upsetting experience of the accidental death of squibs in pureblood families,' she said simply and neither she or Harry said anything more on the subject as they left the manor and apparated to Hogsmeade.

* * *

><p>Draco had been at odds with his Father since he'd seen him living in that dingy room as a drunk. He hadn't seen him since then but his Father had written to him, not that he'd replied to any of those letters. It was from the letters that he knew his Father had managed to get himself arrested by the Muggle police in London for assaulting some muggles while drunk. He had also received a letter from the Ministry informing him that they believed it was safer for Lucius to stay in Muggle prison as he was without his wand and it spared him from Azkaban. Draco hadn't replied to that letter either but it was from that letter he knew where to find his Father.<p>

So here he was. Standing in line at Belmarsh Prison. He studied the place, it was gloomy for sure, but nothing like Azkaban, the inmates didn't look malnourished like in Azkaban either, in fact they looked healthier than criminals on the street.

As he reached the front of the line a cheery man asked, 'who are you visiting?'

'Lucius Malfoy,' Draco replied, disgusted at how cheery this person was, for all his sins his Father deserved to be in a place like Azkaban where he would be punished. It seemed 'prisoners' here lived a life of luxury.

'Oh,' the man said with a smile, 'Lucius doesn't get many visitors. What relation are you to him?'

'I'm his son,' Draco said coldly.

This didn't put a damper on the man's cheeriness as he said, 'First name Mr. Malfoy?'

'Draco, and my surname is Black, I don't share my Father's name,' Draco didn't think he could get any colder with the man unless he poured ice over himself but the man just smiled, 'if you'll just wait in room 3b,' he said, pointing him in the direction. Draco gave a curt nod and made his way into the room which was a simple white room with a table in the centre.

After a 5 minute wait Lucius was escorted into the room looking better than he had while living in the dingy room, his hair was straggled and dirty still and his eyes were blood shot, his face was also gaunt and he was wearing an orange jumpsuit. As he sat down across from Draco with his hands shackled together his eyes lit up.

'Draco, I didn't think you'd come,' he said quietly.

'I'm not here for you,' Draco stated, making that clear, 'I'm here for answers.'

Lucius frowned, the small sparkle in his eyes vanished.

'I was studying at the manor and I found a birth and death record for a sister that I didn't know existed. You've lied to me and kept too much from me throughout my life Father and I want you to put an end to that and be honest with me.'

'Draco...you don't need to know, it does not concern you,' Lucius said, his voice louder and clearer, he sounded more like the Father Draco had known and been scared of than he had in a long time.

'Father!' Draco said, not shouting, just raising his voice slightly, 'for once in your life tell me the truth!'

There was a moment of silence in which Lucius stared at the table and then miraculously he actually started to speak and it wasn't to tell Draco to stay out of it.

'When you were 3 years old your sister was born, it was kept out of the public eye as always in case-'

'In case she was a squib,' Draco said in disgust.

'Exactly,' Lucius said, unfazed by the disgust in his sons voice, 'she was a healthy child who was deemed to have fantastic magical ability, almost as strong as that which you possessed. I doted on her; I must confess I had always wanted a little girl. On Christmas Eve your Mother had taken you to visit her family but had left Areya with me as she got sick from travelling as many children under the age of 3 do. You were 5 years old at this point. I took Areya out onto the lake skating, she did so enjoy it. While she skated I stood nearby in case she fell or needed me to steady her. I heard a crack from the woods and spun around to see what it was, in the few seconds I had turned away Areya had slipped as the noise frightened her and she had fallen through a weak spot in the ice.'

As his tale went on Lucius began to fall apart which surprised Draco, his Fathers voice was weak and broken in such a way he'd never really heard.

'I jumped in to try and save her and I managed to grab her but we were both stuck under the ice, by the time I got her out of the water she wasn't breathing,' Lucius's voice was breathy as if he was struggling to breathe.

'By the time I got her to St. Mungo's there was nothing they could do, I nearly died of hypothermia and I was in hospital for 3 months. I couldn't treat you kindly after that Draco,' Lucius admitted, tears now falling from his eyes which was in turn causing Draco to tear up because he had never seen his Father crying. He'd seen him falling from grace but never falling apart like this.

'You reminded me every day of her, your Mother hated me for it and never forgave me which was why I had a string of affairs. I can't use it as an excuse for the terrible things I've done Draco, but I'll never forget it or forgive myself. I often wish I'd died too that day.'

When Lucius stopped speaking there was silence between Father and son as Lucius tried to catch his breath, he wiped his tears away, not seeming ashamed or embarrassed by them, in fact all Draco could see was a broken old man full of anguish and regret and guilt.

'I didn't know,' Draco said, because it was all he could think of to say even though he knew it didn't make sense because of course he hadn't known, it had been purposely kept from him.

Lucius simply nodded and neither of them really seemed to know what to say.

'So are you stuck here for life?'

Lucius frowned, and shook his head; he and Draco were both aware of the fact there were two Muggle prison guards in the room with them so they were careful of what wording they used.

'It's different here; a life sentence doesn't mean forever, it means 25 years. My sentence is 4 years,' Lucius said simply and Draco tried hard not to gape. In the wizarding world when you got sentenced to any time in Azkaban you died there unless you were only in prison while awaiting sentence or unless an iron case could be made that the person was innocent.

'So are they treating you alright in here?' Draco asked the air between them still slightly awkward.

Lucius nodded, he made an inner vow the moment Draco asked for the truth to not lie to his son again so although he knew this wouldn't go down well with his son he was honest, 'they treat me good, I have my room, I get let out for free time 2 hours a day and I get 3 meals a day.'

Draco didn't take it as badly as he knew his Father thought he would, but he did think it was ridiculous how well treated criminals were, they were supposed to be in here to be punished, were they not?

'Good,' he said simply, 'well, I better be off, I have classes tomorrow and a few projects due.'

Lucius nodded, 'thank you for visiting, son.'

Draco paused on his way to the door; he hadn't heard his Father call him son in an affectionate way for a long time and it was there that he made a decision.

He turned around to face his Father as the guards pulled him up, 'I'll be back once a week to visit, Dad,' he said, and his Fathers face lit up at that one word and the way with which it was said.

It was the first time Draco had ever called his Father his Dad because it had never been allowed, for as long as he could remember he'd been punished for calling his parents anything other than Mother and Father.

Lucius didn't speak, and Draco wondered if it was because he wasn't able too, he just smiled and gave his son a nod. Draco returned the smile and left the room, for the first time in a long time feeling hopeful about restoring his relationship with his estranged Father.

**TBC **


	44. We Are Our Own Worst Enemies

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 44 – We Are Our Own Worst Enemies**

When Draco walked into the common room it was late and as a result it was fairly empty. He smiled as he surveyed the ordinary scene, Daphne dozing with her head on Harry's chest while he and Neville had a whispered heated debate about duelling tactics. Theo was too busy looking at Sadie to be immersed or even involved in the debate, she was also sleeping. Hermione and Susan were sitting together on the only remaining seat by the fire, which was an armchair. Draco chuckled at the site; the two girls were conversing about something that was clearly amusing from the amount of laughter.

When Draco had walked in they all turned to look at him, 'Hey Draco,' Hermione said with a smile as she jumped up and kissed him on the cheek, Susan got up too to let Draco sit on the armchair which he did. Hermione then sat down on his knee and Susan sat down on the floor, leaning against Harrys legs.

'Oh, hey Draco,' Harry said, and Neville also looked over to the Slytherin, 'Draco, what would take your opponent down faster, a stunning charm or a full body bind?'

'Depends,' Draco said, 'usually a stunning charm is instant but if you tried to stun someone like Goyle you'd struggle, he'd need 2 or 3 to hit him at the same time to get him down. A full body bind will always work, but it will always work more slowly. I'd go with the full body bind.'

'And that,' Harry said, with a smug look to Neville, 'is why I'm going to pull as many strings as possible to make sure Draco is my partner.'

Susan sniggered and Harry rolled his eyes, 'Auror partner that is.'

'Uh huh,' Susan said, glancing at Hermione, the two of them burst out into a fit of giggles that woke Sadie and Daphne up.

'Oh your back Draco,' Sadie said casually and Draco rolled his eyes, 'Go on, ask, I know you're all dying too.'

'So, are you going to make us beg for it or are you just going to tell us?' Harry asked as Daphne sniggered at his choice of words.

Draco raised an eyebrow, 'Mind out of the gutter Potter. If you must know, I went to the Muggle prison where my Father is a convict.'

'You're Dads in Muggle prison?' Hermione asked in surprise, it was something her boyfriend hadn't ever mentioned to her.

Draco nodded, 'Yeah, he attacked some Muggles while drunk, he's serving 4 years. You should see those Muggle prisons though, it's nothing like Azkaban. They get 3 meals and time out of their cells to do what they want and they all get visiting hours, not just the high profile ones,' he shook his head, 'criminals are supposed to be punished, my Father is better off in there than he was when the Ministry had him living in that house.'

'Why are the ministry letting him stay in there?' Hannah asked with a frown on her face, 'it doesn't make sense.'

'Probably because it makes things easier for them,' Harry replied which surprised a few of the people in the room, 'if Lucius is in Muggle prison without his wand which I'm sure he is otherwise he wouldn't still be in there, then the ministry don't need to give him a trial or deal with the inevitable surge about it in the press. They'd use it to bring up the war all over again which is exactly what they are trying to avoid at the moment.'

'Wow Harry, when do you get so up to date with your politics?' Sadie asked in surprise, and Daphne smirked, 'since he started reading Ministry Monthly.'

Harry didn't seem fazed by the mocking, 'Hey if you want me to become an Auror and earn enough to fund your exotic lifestyle don't complain,' he said with a wink to his girlfriend who only laughed. Draco shook his head in amusement, 'anyway,' he said and the others all drew their attention back to him.

'He told me the truth, I did have a sister and she did die. My Father took her skating on Christmas Eve and she fell through the ice, he caught hypothermia trying to save her and nearly died himself, apparently my Mother never forgave him for it,' Draco said, he didn't feel they needed to know the full story, it was for him to know, him and his Father, although he knew at some stage he would tell Hermione.

'Gosh Draco that's horrible,' Sadie said sadly, and Draco nodded, but didn't say anymore as he stared into space.

'So it wasn't the typical pureblood squib story,' Daphne said, and Draco shook his head, 'No, although it did go through my head.'

'How did things go with your Father?' Daphne asked and she was surprised when Draco actually cracked a small smile.

'Well actually, I think we might be on the path to reconciliation. He told me he wishes he'd died that day too, I just saw a different side of him I guess,' Draco said, shrugging as if this wasn't a big deal, even though deep down he knew it was.

'Good,' Hermione said with a smile, 'it's never good to not know where you stand with your parents.'

Draco nodded and the air was silent, but not uncomfortably as everyone thought about the events of the night.

* * *

><p>When the group of 8th years sat down at the table in the great hall for breakfast some strange things happened. The first of which was Lavender walking into the great hall. Lately everyone had gotten used to the way Lavender looked; her hair was long and very blonde and was usually left down or sometimes pulled into a ponytail. She usually covered herself in make-up so much that it was ridiculous and definitely not attractive. As for how she dressed, well she had taken the same approach as Tessie and Isabelle which was to wear the shortest skirt and the most low-cut blouse. In fact rather like Daphne once had, she dressed much more conservatively now which Harry was happy about.<p>

When Lavender walked in today however more than one thing was different, in fact, almost everything was different. Harry gaped when he saw the girl walk into the hall, without close examination you couldn't even tell that it was Lavender, but it was. Her long hair was gone and she was now sporting a pixie style hairdo, her hair was still blonde but it was a darker dirtier blonde which was closer to her real hair colour as Harry remembered from their early Hogwarts years. The make-up was gone too and for the first time in a long time it was clear that Lavender had freckles, she was also wearing glasses, Harry knew that she used an eyesight charm weekly to avoid wearing them because she was bullied for it as a child. Her dress sense had changed too; she looked much more like Hermione in her simple Hogwarts uniform of a skirt, vest and cloak.

'Who is that?' Gabrielle whispered to Isabelle and Tessie as Lavender approached the table.

Tessie made a face, 'I don't know, but whoever she is she's ugly.'

Isabelle laughed nastily, 'look at the glasses, gross.'

'She looks like a boy,' Gabrielle said as she too sniggered.

When Lavender reached the table Harry was pleased to see she didn't look nervous or apprehensive, she looked confident.

Hermione, Daphne, Susan and Hannah shared smiles as they saw the girl.

'Lavender!' Hannah called, 'come sit with us.'

Lavender smiled, a true smile, as she sat down between Hannah and Sadie.

'The new look is fantastic!' Hannah said to the Gryffindor who smiled broadly, 'it's not new, it's the real me, like Harry told me to be.'

'He's got some pretty good advice that guy,' Daphne said, smiling at her boyfriend who was talking to Draco and Neville about something or other.

'Yeah, he has,' Lavender said, she too was smiling, but then she saw Tessie, Isabelle and Gabrielle pointing at her and laughing and her face fell.

'You can laugh at her if you want,' Hermione said to the girls who weren't sitting too far away, 'but she's something you three will never be, and that's real.'

'Like we care Granger,' Tessie said with a laugh.

'Well if you don't it doesn't bother us,' Sadie said to the girls, 'it just means when school is over and we're in high earning jobs we can laugh at you three for caring more about how you look than what grades you got.'

Isabelle looked miffed about this, 'Excuse me, my Father-'

'Isabelle you don't need to finish that sentence, we all know who your Father is, and if you ever do end up in a high earning job it's not because of your brains, it's just because you've got a famous Daddy,' Daphne retorted and the others at their little section of the table sniggered.

'So leave Lavender alone, she's better off without you bullies anyway,' Hannah piped up and this time Gabrielle spoke, 'don't worry, we don't want to hang out with that geek,' she laughed and her two cronies laughed as well. She had kind of become Hogwarts biggest bitch so everyone just tried their best to steer clear of her, everyone knew the innocent act was just that, an act.

'Good,' Lavender said, finally speaking up for herself, 'I'm glad to hear it,' she turned her back on the side of the table the girls were at and said quietly to Hermione, Daphne, Hannah and Sadie, 'Thanks.'

'Hey, it's what friends do,' Hannah said simply and Lavender hugged her. She then turned to Hermione, she'd been surprised when the other Gryffindor helped to defend her, 'I'm sorry about 6th year Hermione, I-'

'Don't feel the need to explain or apologise,' Hermione said with a smile, 'if anything we both made the same mistake, and that was thinking Ron Weasley was worth it.'

Lavender just smiled and nodded, she didn't say anymore as she began to eat her breakfast.

'By the way,' Sadie said quietly to Lavender, 'if they bother you anymore, just give us some dirt on them, between us our boyfriends now own the prophet, we can get our own back for you,' she winked at Lavender and said, 'now whisper back, they'll think we're plotting.'

Lavender laughed, she felt like she had real friends for the first time since Parvati who was watching the exchange from a little further up the table with a smile on her face.

'Hey Lavender, what's your potions project about?' Draco asked from across the table. Theo rolled his eyes and muttered something about letting mutts into the group. Harry and Neville hit him over the back of the head from both sides and he muttered some more incoherent insults at them.

'Oh, it's just a study of the transfer of the werewolf enzyme,' Lavender said, somewhat shyly.

'Wow,' Sadie said in surprise, 'that's a pretty difficult topic isn't it?'

Lavender shrugged, she didn't like to big herself up, she didn't think of herself as very intelligent, 'Not really if you know what areas to focus on. My project is basically studying how its spread from a werewolf to a human, looking at the effects of the enzyme in the human bloodstream and then theorising some cures that could wash it out of the bloodstream.'

'Sounds like a good project,' Theo said from across the table, and Harry nodded with a smile at Lavender.

'You can come with us tonight to Malfoy Manor if you'd like,' Hermione said, without bothering to ask Draco who mouthed at her, 'what?!'

Hermione ignored this and continued, 'we're using the library there to research our projects.'

'Oh that's nice of you to ask Hermione,' Lavender said, 'but I've already finished my project.'

'Oh, that's great then Lavender, I wish we were as organised as you,' Sadie said with a laugh that made Lavender smile, 'I really want to become a journalist after Hogwarts; I need to pass all my N.E.W.T's.'

After that conversation flowed quickly and comfortably until breakfast ended and the day went on, with some members of the group excited to be going back to the Manor to study, and others (like Harry) dreading having to stick his face in a book for the rest of yet another evening. Now that March was here the weather was much better for Quidditch practice and he was already missing one practice a week as it was because of his heavy workload. At this rate Gryffindor were going to get thrashed in the next match.

* * *

><p>The night started slowly and nobody spoke to each other for the first little while, it seemed that everyone was scribbling away apart from Harry who was trying not to fall asleep and was daydreaming about being on a broom with the wind flowing through his hair.<p>

'Guys...'

Everyone turned to Neville who was staring at a page in the book with his quill hovering over his parchment; it was dripping ink all over his work.

Hannah made a face and cleared the splodges of ink away, 'yeah?' she and the others all said.

'Little exercise for you all here, just trust me and play along,' Neville said as he put his quill back in the ink pot.

'Okay...' Harry said, looking suspicious as Neville looked up for the first time, 'Everyone put your hand up.'

Looking at Neville like he was insane everybody raised their right hand in the air apart from Sadie who was left-handed, 'freak,' Theo said affectionately to his girlfriend who in return smacked him around the back of the head. Theo threw his hands up into the air in exasperation, 'that's the third time today!' he exclaimed. Neville gave him a dirty look, 'if you don't cooperate there will be a 4th!' he warned so Theo rolled his eyes and grudgingly raised his hand.

'Okay now if you live in an ordinary Muggle house with no magical history or concealment charms put your hand down,' Neville said. Hermione put her hand down instantly and Harry shouted from the other end of the room, 'Well that depends, I lived in a Muggle house but I now live in a Wizarding house.'

'Put your hand down then,' Neville said with a chuckle, 'it's where you spent most of your childhood that's important.'

So Harry put his hand down too but the others left their hands in the air.

Neville then asked his second question, 'Put your hand down if your house is Muggle-built.'

This time Hannah's hand dropped and Susan said from the table she was at with Hannah and Neville, 'Well I live with Hannah now but the house I was raised in was a wizarding house in Godric's Hollow.'

'Leave your hand up then,' Neville said simply, he then glanced around at the people left with their hands up; Draco, Daphne, Sadie, Theo and Susan.

'Put your hand down if your family hasn't occupied that house for the last 50 years,' Neville said, and this time Susan dropped her hand.

'Perfect,' Neville said when he noticed that the 4 people left with their hands in the air were Draco, Daphne, Sadie and Theo, the perfect pureblood subjects.

'Okay you guys come over here please,' Neville said, and confused the 4 of his friends obliged.

'I hate to ask but how many of you have suffered premature death of children or squib births or even premature adult death in your families?' Neville asked and he was surprised at the cooperation he got from them.

'Well my family has a history of miscarriages,' Draco said and Daphne nodded, 'mine too, my Mother had several and she also had two sisters who didn't live past 5 years old.'

Sadie nodded, 'According to my family tree I had two brothers who didn't live past 2 years of age and I know there is a history of infant mortality in my family.'

Theo shrugged, 'I had a brother who died when he was 6, and I had a couple of cousins who died as babies. It's pretty common in wizarding families.'

'Yes I know, but I think I just figured out the cause,' Neville said, he was clearly quite excited and he now had everyone crowded around the desk he was working at.

'How many of you use paint charms to redecorate your houses?' Neville asked, the question was seemingly random, but it served a purpose.

'Uh, well my Mother redecorated the house when she and my Father married, why?' Daphne said, confused at the odd question.

Neville shook his head, 'I'll explain in a minute, what about the rest of you?'

'Malfoy Manor has been unchanged since it was repainted in the 19th century,' Draco said and Theo nodded in agreement, 'Nott Manor is the same, it's never been repainted.'

'Well I just live in a house, not a manor,' Sadie admitted, 'but it's not really been changed.'

'What about Grimmauld Place Harry?' Neville asked, turning to the boy next to him.

'It only got repainted last year,' Harry said, not having the faintest idea where Neville was going with this.

'Susan?'

'Uh the house I lived in with my Aunt in Godric's Hollow had been redecorated just before we moved in, but when I lived with my parents in Hogsmeade that hadn't been painted; I did only live there for a year though.'

'My house is a Muggle house with Muggle paint,' Hannah said with a chuckle and Hermione laughed, 'yep, mine too!'

'I know what it is,' Neville said, 'Wizards are behind the times with everything else, right you guys?' he aimed this question at Hannah, Hermione and Harry.

Hermione nodded and took control of answering this question, 'Massively, I mean scientifically they aren't as advanced, or in technology for that matter. We use a steam engine to get pupils here, Muggles use much faster trains. The wizarding dress sense is very old fashioned, as is the fact we have high status families that dominate the political world, it's all very-'

'Victorian,' Neville finished, cutting Hermione off, 'Exactly, so if in many other ways Wizards are Victorian surely they would be in the way they decorate their houses.'

'Neville,' Hermione said quietly, 'you don't think...'

'I do,' Neville said, 'I mean think about it, it makes sense.'

'What makes sense?' Harry and Draco asked at the same time, both in a rather impatient tone of voice.

'I think Wizarding paint uses lead.'

'Yeah, it does. So?' Draco said, not at all understanding the problem with this.

'WHAT?' Hermione cried in surprise.

Even Harry knew the significance of that, he had paid attention in Muggle Primary school, 'Seriously?!'

'So what?' Daphne asked, glaring at them for insulting 'her kind'.

'Lead is highly poisonous!' Hermione and Neville said, with Harry nodding fervently to back them up.

'It was used to paint houses in Victorian times in the Muggle World and the infant mortality was significantly higher. The moment they realised how poisonous it was they got rid of it and it hasn't been used since,' Hermione explained, of course she knew everything, everything about both the Muggle and Wizarding Worlds, she was Hermione.

'It would make sense,' Neville said, 'I mean look at my family, the Longbottom's haven't had infertility problems and we've always lived in houses in Godric's Hollow which are constantly being repainted and decorated and aren't anywhere near as old as the pureblood mansions most Slytherins live in. Then there's Daphne, her house was redecorated when her Mother moved in and she's not an only child like the others.'

'It does make sense,' Draco said slowly, 'I mean, my family only started to have fertility problems from the early 19th century onwards which was when the house was painted with lead for the first time. I looked at everything else to find out what it could have been, but the paint never crossed my mind.'

'If it is the paint what are you going to do?' Sadie asked, and Neville didn't seem to know how to answer that question yet, but after a pause he said, 'well I'd have to test it first, but I'm 99% sure it is the paint. I suppose I'd take it to the Prophet, and then the Ministry.'

'The Muggle Government banned the sale of lead paint in the UK in 1992,' Hermione piped up, 'but obviously it was still in older properties. These days renovators have to get rid of it if they come across it in an old house.'

'Lead paint is particularly dangerous to children under the age of 6,' Harry added, he didn't know how he remembered the strange things from his miserable days at Muggle school; 'it can stunt their development and cause health problems that can cause death.'

'And it would make sense that if it stunts development it would also stunt magical development,' Neville added as Hannah's eyes widened, 'so it could also be the reason why there are more squibs in those families.'

'It also damages fertility in both women and men,' Hermione said, everyone was intrigued and excited by this revelation; it could change so many lives.

Susan nodded eagerly, 'I mean it makes sense, it would cause infertility in women thus affecting the womb and increasing the amount of miscarriages-'

'But if it also affects men then it would make it hard for the woman to get pregnant too,' Sadie added, 'it makes so much sense. Why has no one thought of it before?'

'Because people are so out of touch with the Muggle world that it would never have occurred to them that they shared a problem like this,' Neville said simply, but Harry added, 'and everybody is so busy looking for a huge problem they don't think of little things like how a house is decorated.'

'So what do we do now?' Draco asked, 'this is huge, but it fits in with my project about infertility in purebloods hugely.'

'And mine about squibs in prominent pureblood families,' Harry piped up.

'Mine too,' Sadie said with a sheepish smile, 'about the use of fertility potions in pureblood women.'

'It kind of fits in with mine too, about the lifespan of pureblood Witches and Wizards,' Theo added and Neville laughed, 'does anyone else want in on my ground-breaking theory for a good grade in their potions project?'

The others all laughed too. This was huge and it got everybody so excited they knew there was no way they could get back to work so Neville decided to take it back to Hogwarts and try and figure out what to do next, with a stop off for a celebratory drink first of course.

'I'm going to stay,' Hermione said, 'I really need more information.'

Draco smiled at her, 'I'll stay too, I want to look into Nev's theory a bit more, I'm going to have a wander around the manor, examine the walls and do some tests.'

'Make sure you record them right so I can use them in my project,' Neville said and Draco rolled his eyes, 'Of course I will Longbottom, I'm an expert in Potions, I know how to conduct an experiment.'

'Just checking,' Neville said cheekily as he made for the door. Hannah, Daphne and Harry headed off too with a plan to stop off for a drink to celebrate. Sadie kissed Theo goodbye and said she'd head off too, but not to go drinking, to go home to bed.

When they were gone only Hermione, Draco, Theo and Susan were left. Theo hated working, but he groaned and slammed his 5th book shut, 'Nev just shot my theory to pieces, I think I'm going to have to change my whole project.'

Under most circumstances Hermione would have helped but she was too busy trying to find some useful information as it was.

'I doubt you'll have to change the whole project,' Susan said as she glanced at Theo's draft paper, 'I mean you probably can't argue the house-elves being part of the reason for premature death but you can change it to a study of the lifespan of wizards and witches. Talk about the different things that affect it, like lead paint and dark magic.'

'Susan you're a life saver,' Theo said as he hurried to the family history section of the library, he'd been looking in all of the wrong books.

Another hour passed quietly, Draco left to do some tests and had been gone for about half an hour when he came back with both good and bad news, 'Well pretty much the whole house has lead paint, but my bedroom doesn't, it got repainted when I was 2 years old, it explains why I'm alive and it probably means it hasn't had too much of an effect on my lifespan.'

'That makes sense,' Theo said, 'it's probably the case in all of our houses, who doesn't redecorate a kid's room at some point when they are young after all.'

'I'll relay the findings to Nev; he can try and figure out the hard part.'

'What's the hard part?' Susan asked and Draco replied, 'figuring out why some children from the same family and generation lived and others died.'

'Hm, that does sound difficult,' she mused and Theo said, 'well it's his theory, it's only fair that he has to do the hard part.' He flicked through a few pages and then snorted.

'What?' Draco asked nosily as he sunk into a seat next to his best friend.

'Just reading about my family, we were a bunch of charlatans and cons,' Theo said with an amused chuckle, he unstuck a photograph from the book and showed it to Draco, 'look at us.'

Draco laughed as he looked at the picture, he recognised only one person in it, Theo's Father who definitely looked the part of a con.

'Hey look at her, she looks like Hermione,' Draco realised and Theo looked over, 'oh yeah, so she does. Oi Hermione, come here and look at this.'

Being nosy, the moment Hermione got up to walk over, Susan did too and the 4 of them squinted at the photo. Draco and Theo were right there was a young girl standing beside Theo's Father with long hair that looked unruly like Hermione's, the picture was in black and white so Hermione couldn't tell what colour the girls hair was.

'I don't know who she is,' Theo admitted, 'That's my Grandfather and Grandmother,' he pointed to two middle aged people standing at the back of the photograph; a grand manor was visible faintly as the backdrop. He then pointed out his Father in the middle and his twin Aunts Eugenie and Beatrice to the left of him, 'but I don't know the girl on the right, she's not in any photographs.'

'Says here in the caption, 'The Nott family, from left to right: Eugenie Nott (14), Beatrice Nott (14), Ernest Nott (42), Alfred Nott (16), Gertrude Nott (40), Elizabeth Nott (10). Photographed in the year 1971.'

Hermione frowned, 'Wait a minute...if that girl was 10 in 1971 she had to have been born in 1961.'

'Yeah, so?' Theo didn't get the point; neither did Draco or Susan for that matter.

'My Mother was born in 1961, and that girl...she looks exactly like I did at 10,' Hermione said, her eyes fairly wide.

'Hermione...' Susan said, as she cottoned on to her friend's line of thought, 'you don't think that your Mums a Witch do you?'

'I don't know,' Hermione admitted with a frown, 'I mean, she accepted the fact I was very easily, she was the one who talked my Dad around and let me go to Hogwarts, but I wiped her memory after the war and sent her to Australia for her own protection, if she was a Witch she wouldn't have let me do that.'

'Did she know you were doing it?' Susan asked and Hermione shook her head.

'Witch or not if she didn't know she couldn't have done anything about it, we can't undo memory charms, look at Lockhart,' Susan said, biting her lip as she did when concentrating.

'But if she was a Witch why would she not tell me? Or let on anything about the Wizarding World? And we live in an entirely Muggle way, I mean my Mother is a dentist, it doesn't make any sense!' Hermione was freaking out a little now so Draco put his arm around her, 'you're right Hermione, it doesn't make any sense and it's probably a coincidence but if it will put your mind at ease we'll have a look in the tapestry room.'

Hermione nodded and Theo asked, 'can I come?'

'Can I come too?' Susan piped up, causing Hermione to chuckle and Draco to roll his eyes, 'I suppose so,' he said as he led them out of the library and into the room next door. It was the most impressive room Hermione had seen in a wizarding house.

This tapestry seemed to be alive. It spread across 3 walls in a small square room and the walls were black with the lines from the tapestry in silver.

'Wow,' Hermione said as she gaped around the room.

Draco smirked, he was proud of this one room of the house, 'oh and this is magical paint by the way, no lead,' he informed them as Susan looked at the walls suspiciously.

Draco lifted his wand and tapped it on a crest at the top of the middle wall. There were several lined up around the top of each wall. The crest featured a snake, a wand and the name 'NOTT' was written underneath it. Hermione watched in amazement, the wall began to change and it took Hermione a moment to realise that it was zooming in on the Nott part of the large family tree.

The room seemed to read Draco's mind as it zoomed in on one part in particular, the part that concerned Elizabeth Nott. There was an oil pastel painting of her face, like on the Black family tapestry. The portrait portrayed the girl as the same age she was in the picture they'd seen in the book.

'Elizabeth Nott. 1961-1971.'

'She died the same year that photo was taken,' Draco said, but Hermione was frowning at the image.

'She can't be your Mother,' Theo added, but Susan saw the look on Hermione's face and said, 'you think something's up Hermione, don't you?'

Hermione nodded, 'It was something Daphne said yesterday, about squib accidental deaths that weren't so accidental.'

'Well let's look at birth and death records from that time then,' Susan said and watched Hermione leave the room for the library.

'Susan,' Draco hissed, 'why are you doing this? It's not her Mother!'

'She's acting mental Susan, don't encourage it,' Theo said, rolling his eyes at Susan like she was stupid.

Susan got fired up easily, but lately she hadn't been quite so bad, 'She needs to look into this or she'll wonder about it for the rest of her life, and she's not insane! There's a perfectly good chance her Mother was a squib who escaped a gruesome fate from people like your Father!' she hissed, angry but careful not to raise her voice in case Hermione heard her. With that she spun on her heel and made her way back into the library.

Draco and Theo were still sceptical as Susan and Hermione realised there wasn't a death record anywhere for Elizabeth Nott.

'Ugh,' Hermione groaned, 'why didn't evil purebloods keep a diary of squibs in families that were killed off or escaped?!'

Theo and Draco shared a sheepish look that made Susan and Hermione gape.

'Seriously?' Susan asked in exasperation and Draco managed to crack a small smile at that, 'it's just here,' he said. He then walked over to one of the bookcases and pushed one book in and pulled another out at the same time. The bookcase silently slid back to reveal a secret study.

'So Indiana Jones,' Hermione muttered as she followed Draco into the musty room.

'Here,' Draco said, as he flung an old book into Hermione's hands. She gaped as she opened it. Exactly like Draco had said it was a diary of all known squibs. Each entry consisted of the surname, forename, date of birth, date of death, and then any further information was added beneath.

Hermione flipped through it, reading the names, names she recognised like Malfoy, Nott, Cauldwell, Greengrass, Longbottom, Davis, Macmillan, and so it went on. Eventually she struck gold and found the entry on the mysterious young girl.

It read;

'NOTT, Elizabeth. Born: April 6th 1961. Death: N/A. Father Ernest Nott attempted to murder at the age of 10. Escaped and was found by Elladora Malfoy who performed a memory charm on the girl and sent her to live in the Muggle world. Henceforth has no recollection of the wizarding world. '

'Oh my god,' Hermione whispered as she read the entry aloud to the others. Susan glared at Draco and Theo for their lack of belief in the idea.

'So my Mum is a squib,' Hermione realised, sitting down as the shock of this hit her.

'Which makes me your cousin,' Theo said thoughtfully, then he had a thought, 'wait...have I slept with you?'

'No Theo!' Hermione answered, laughing at the fact he needed to ask.

'Jeez Theo, so many conquests you lost track?' Susan teased, Theo made a face, 'you can't talk Susan.'

'Hey, I remember _all_ of mine,' Susan said with a wink.

'So what are you gonna do about your Mother?' Draco asked as he sat down next to Hermione on one of the few comfy sofas in the dingy depressing room. Theo and Susan were too busy arguing over who'd had the most conquests to listen in to their conversation which Draco was sure Hermione appreciated.

'I don't know,' Hermione said honestly, she was still stunned, 'I mean if her memory about it was wiped then that's all there is to it, your Grandmother is dead so it's not like it can be undone,' Hermione shook her head, 'I don't think I'd want it to be anyway, I mean she's happy as she is, she loves being a dentist and my Dad.'

'Memory charms never do the job 100% right you know,' Draco said calmly, 'that's why Aurors hate them and anyone in the business of cleaning up after Wizards, like Arthur Weasley. Little things like the fact she talked your Dad around are remnants of the childhood she doesn't remember.'

'At the end of the day it's for the best,' Hermione said reasonably, 'if it hadn't happened she wouldn't be here and then neither would I. I'm happy for her to remain oblivious.'

'What about you? Doesn't this change anything for you?' Draco asked, genuinely curious and he supposed a little bit concerned that she might breakdown.

Hermione considered this for a moment and eventually shook her head, 'No, I'm still a Muggle-born at the end of the day aren't I? Neither of my parents possessed any magical ability.'

'True,' Draco agreed, 'but it does make sense of the fact your magical ability is so strong, your blood albeit isn't so pure, but you have about a quarter of magical blood and the rest ordinary.'

'So how is my magical ability so strong then?' Hermione asked, she didn't understand how she could only have a quarter magical blood but strong magical ability.

'According to recent studies magical ability and blood aren't as closely related as once believed,' Draco said, 'which is a good thing, hopefully it will stop people from being prejudiced.'

Hermione nodded, 'I agree, I hope it does change attitudes.'

'What I meant by the way, when I asked how it was affecting you, is how are you coping with the fact you're descended from the Nott's, and the cousin of that tosser,' he added as he jerked his head in the direction of Theo who was at that moment saying, 'just cause I haven't slept with both sexes doesn't mean I'm not a womanizer!'

Hermione burst out laughing and Draco grinned, but there was a more serious under-note to the question and they both knew it.

'It's different,' Hermione admitted, 'but at the end of the day it doesn't change anything. My parents are still my parents. All this means is that I had a set of Grandparents who I didn't know about and a couple of Aunts. I'm not going to start calling myself a pureblood just because I'm descended from one on my Mother's side. I'm a Muggle-born and I'm proud of it.'

Draco grinned proudly at his girlfriend and grabbed her hand, 'well said, I'm glad you took it so well, when you started to think along those lines I got worried.'

Hermione shook her head and stood up, 'No, it's not going to change me or the way I think, don't worry,' she said as she leant in and kissed her boyfriend. They chuckled as they heard Theo and Susan making puking noises in the background. Hermione pulled away from the kiss and said, 'shut up you two,' in a playful tone of voice.

Theo did a mock solute and Susan laughed, Hermione did love the craziness of her friends (and family, now she thought about it, she was related to most of the people in their little group).

'So who wants to go to the pub?' Hermione asked as they left the library, it was a ridiculously late hour but they knew the Hogs Head would be open regardless.

'Ah my dear, what a fantastic idea,' Draco said with a sigh, he could really do with a stiff drink after the last few days he'd had.

'Are you paying? Cause I don't have any money,' Susan pointed out and Theo smirked, 'I'll buy you a drink if you admit that I have slept with more people than you.'

Draco and Hermione rolled their eyes and walked slightly ahead as the two friends started to argue again.

'Here we go,' Draco muttered and Hermione grinned as they left the manor. What she'd found out today if anything made her realise how lucky she was to be here, and life was short, she intended to enjoy every second of it.

**TBC **


	45. The World is Better When You Don't Fit

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 45 – The World is So Much Better When You Don't Fit**

After the exciting discovery made at Malfoy Manor the week flew by. Neville took his theory to the Prophet and ensured an article would be written as soon as possible. With the help of Harry he also took it to the Ministry, straight to the Minister for Magic himself. They tried to keep it within the group until it became common knowledge so the 8th years were suspicious of all the whispering that went on in front of the fire that week. What happened at Malfoy Manor between Draco, Hermione, Theo and Susan had stayed that way; it was something Hermione wanted to keep as much to herself as possible, she hadn't even told Harry about it yet.

By the time Friday morning came around the article was published in the paper, and nobody strictly knew that the mysterious group of 8th years had been the ones to discover it, although many people _did _suspect it. The advice it gave seemed to actually be taken seriously and the Ministry were taking legal action on the matter too. It all seemed to be going very well everyone decided as they sat down for breakfast on Friday with the article on the front page in front of them.

'Oh, Hermione, McGonagall asked me to tell you to be at the hospital wing for 9am today,' Lavender said casually as she sat down at the table, she had come in late and had only just glanced at the paper.

'Why?' Hermione asked curiously, McGonagall hadn't said anything to her the day before when she had spoken to her about her transfiguration homework.

Lavender frowned as she caught the headline, 'Uh, something about meeting the new girl,' she said, 'can I borrow this?' she added.

Hermione was even more confused, she followed Lavender's gaze to the paper, 'What? Oh yeah, sure. What new girl?'

Lavender pulled the paper towards her and replied, 'Melody I think her name was,' she said, 'wow lead paint is the reason for infertility? My whole house is painted in that stuff! I'd better owl my Mum!' she jumped up and hurried from the hall only moments after she'd arrived.

'Melody?' Hermione questioned, looking to the others, 'what happened to her? She was supposed to get integrated into Hogwarts last month wasn't she?'

Harry nodded, making sure no nosy ears were listening in, 'Yeah, she spent some time in St. Mungo's though, she had a nervous breakdown before she even got out of the hospital wing, she couldn't deal with the change. I heard she was back in the hospital wing, she's obviously on the mend.'

'Well why would McGonagall want me to go there?' Hermione asked, frowning in the direction of the head table where McGonagall was engaged in conversation with Flitwick.

'She probably wants you to be supportive or something,' Daphne said casually as she flicked through the gossip section of the prophet.

'Yeah I mean she does only have her Dad,' Sadie reasoned, 'she won't know anyone else. We were all about 5 years old when she was in 7th year.'

'If that's the case then why me?' Hermione asked.

'You are the head girl Mione,' Harry said simply, 'and also she probably thinks its your thing, you're pretty good at patching up broken people. Look at what you managed to make of me.'

Hermione flushed pink and Draco smirked, 'he's right; you did it for me too.'

'And me,' Daphne said with a smile, by now Hermione was bright pink which amused the others who chuckled.

'Well,' Hermione said, still flushing, 'either way I'd better head up to the hospital wing. I'll see you in Ancient Runes guys,' she said, aiming this at Daphne, Draco and Hannah mainly. She then slung her bag over her shoulder and made her way to the hospital wing.

Hermione didn't know how, but McGonagall was already waiting for her when she got to the hospital wing. She knew she'd left the great hall before McGonagall and the woman hadn't passed her. Hermione smiled slightly, McGonagall was becoming more like Dumbledore by the day.

'Ah, Miss. Granger,' McGonagall said, greeting Hermione with a smile, 'before we go in I'd like to explain why I asked you here.'

Hermione nodded and McGonagall continued in an undertone, 'Melody has had a hard time adapting to this new world we live in. She is officially being integrated today and I thought it might help if she had a friend. She's taking all of the same classes as you so if you can help her in any way possible I'm sure she'd appreciate it.'

Hermione nodded, a little nervous, she wasn't great at making small talk with new people or comforting upset people either for that matter. McGonagall led Hermione into the hospital wing where Melody was sitting on the edge of the bed. She was in standard Hogwarts school uniform, Hermione noticed the Ravenclaw crest on her tie and cloak. Melody looked much the same, her eyes were big and blue, but they seemed cold and lost. Her hair was brown and long, it didn't look straggly like she'd been ill, in fact she looked completely healthy apart from those dead eyes.

Filch and Trelawney were with her, standing by her bed.

'Are you sure you'll be okay Melody?' Filch asked and Melody smiled at her Father, Hermione saw her eyes come to life, that was real emotion and a real smile, 'I'm ready Dad, I'll be fine,' she said as she hugged Filch.

'Be sure to take care today child,' Trelawney added, and Melody's smile even looked real when she smiled at the divination teacher, 'I will, thank you Sybill,' she said as she hugged her too.

'Melody, this is Hermione Granger,' McGonagall said with a kind smile, 'she's the head girl and she'll keep you right today.'

Melody stood up, slung her bag on and walked over to Hermione, 'hey,' she said, Hermione wondered if she was shy because of the look in her eyes.

'Hi,' Hermione said brightly, 'are you ready to go?'

Melody nodded so Hermione led the way out of the hospital wing, 'Okay well we have ancient runes first so-'

'So we're going to the 2nd floor then, yeah I know,' Melody said, the smile was gone and her attitude had changed. Her eyes were cold and she sounded bitter, 'I did come here for 7 years; I think I'd know my way around.'

'Oh, right, of course, sorry,' Hermione said, not knowing what to say to that.

'I was head girl,' Melody said miserably, 'I know what you're trying to do, make a friend of me and all that rubbish, don't bother.'

Hermione gaped for a moment because she didn't know what to say, and it wasn't often that she was lost for words.

'Right well I won't then,' Hermione said simply, 'but I do have to guide you to your classes today, attitude or not.'

There was silence between them for a moment, and it was extremely awkward.

'Now you might know the school but you don't know the people,' Hermione said, 'there's me and the group of people I'm friends with and they are alright. Then there's these girls called Isabelle, Tessie and Gabrielle, two Gryffindors and a Slytherin: avoid them like the pox they are such-'

Hermione realised her mistake the moment she saw the look on Melody's face, she'd forgotten the dragon pox was the reason for all of Melody's suffering in life.

'I'm sorry,' Hermione said quickly, 'I didn't think, it's a phrase.'

'Right,' Melody said simply, 'so avoid you, and all your friends who joke about serious diseases.'

'It's not anymore though,' Hermione said, trying to defend herself, 'these days it's easy to cure.'

'Well isn't that wonderful for you?' Melody asked sarcastically, she was extremely bitter.

Hermione couldn't say anymore even if she had wanted too, or known what to say, because they then reached their ancient runes classroom and Hermione was grateful that she wasn't seated next to Melody.

'Wow,' Hermione said, as she sunk down into her seat in-between Daphne and Hannah.

'What happened?' Hannah whispered nosily, the lesson was well underway and everyone was whispering as they translated some old scriptures.

'Well McGonagall's asked me to guide her today because it's her first day of classes and we share all of our classes,' Hermione whispered, careful to be very quiet so Melody wouldn't hear them; she was sitting two rows ahead by Ginny and Draco.

'Whats she like?' Hannah asked, she was as gossipy as Lavender sometimes, although in this past week since her transformation Lavender hadn't been anywhere near as bad.

'Not very nice,' Hermione replied honestly, 'she was really cold and bitter, and angry at me for no reason.'

'She has been a cat for a decade,' Daphne whispered, 'I'd be pretty pissed too.'

'Yeah well I accidentally made it worse by saying 'avoid them like the pox' I didn't even realise, It's a phrase I use on auto-pilot,' Hermione said, she shook her head at her own stupidity, she felt horrible for it.

'I wouldn't worry about it Hermione,' Daphne said quietly, 'she's going to push everyone out at the moment, don't take it personally.'

'Why don't you just apologise?' Hannah asked, frowning as she scratched a line through one of her translations.

'I did, but I think I just made it worse,' Hermione said, the guilt showing on her face, 'I feel so sorry for her.'

'That's probably the last thing she wants,' Daphne observed and Hannah nodded, 'she probably just wants people to treat her like a normal person.'

'She is a normal person Han,' Daphne said gently, 'she's just a bit displaced.'

'Understatement of the century,' Hermione sighed as she shot a sympathetic look towards Melody and she was chilled to the bone when she caught her looking right back. It reminded Hermione of those times she snuck out with the boys and Mrs. Norris would stare at her, like she could see right into their souls or even see through Harry's invisibility cloak.

She couldn't still have some of her cat-like skills could she, like super hearing? Hermione sincerely hoped not.

* * *

><p>After her disastrous start to the day with Melody, things didn't get better for Hermione. She tried to talk to Melody but the girl was either silent or snappy so in the end Hermione gave up. She carted Melody around even though the girl clearly knew where she was going; they went to Defence Against the Dark Arts on the first floor where Hermione quietly filled the others in on what had happened. Everyone seemed to agree with Daphne and Hannah that the best thing was to try and be nice to her but let her deal with this herself.<p>

At break Hermione had to stick with Melody so she took her over to the gang as they shivered outside in the courtyard.

Everyone greeted Melody with a smile and said hi, she just gave them a half-hearted wave and leant against a wall.

Susan smiled brightly, 'Hey Melody, how are you finding your way about?'

'Fine,' Melody replied, sticking to one worded answers.

'Oh, so it hasn't changed at all?' Susan asked, sounding quite interested.

Melody shrugged, 'not really,' she said simply.

'Have you seen the grounds yet?' Harry asked with a chuckle as he thought of what he still referred to as Hagrid's hut.

Melody shook her head and Harry said, 'well Hagrid the caretaker got engaged, and now that his fiancé has moved in his hut is more like a luxury two-story cottage.'

Everyone, Harry included, was surprised when Melody laughed at this, 'really? How sweet for Hagrid,' she said fondly, she had obviously been close to the caretaker as Harry was.

'Oh, were you close to Hagrid?' Daphne asked kindly, Melody's face darkened a little, she had obviously heard Daphne, Hermione and Hannah talking about her earlier.

'Yes, I lived in the castle so I grew up with him. He would look after me when my Father had to patrol,' she spoke with a distant look in her eyes, 'I think I shall go visit him after school,' she said, more to herself than the others.

'That would be nice,' Draco said, smiling at the Ravenclaw, she frowned when she looked at him.

'You're the boy from ancient runes,' Melody stated and Draco frowned, 'uh, yeah.'

'I thought you looked familiar then, who are you?' Melody asked and Draco replied, 'Draco Black.'

'You might call yourself Black, but once a Malfoy always a Malfoy,' Theo joked with a chuckle, not quite understanding why everyone was glaring at him.

'MALFOY?' Melody shouted in anger, 'you are of the family that did this to me!'

Melody had a crazed look in her eyes as she drew her wand.

'Woah, Expelliarmus!' Harry shouted, disarming Melody and grabbing her wand, 'calm down, it was thanks to him that we saved you, you'd still be a cat if it weren't for him!'

Melody seemed to stop seething and caught her breath, but she was still looking suspiciously at Draco. The courtyard had gone silent as everyone stopped to watch the drama.

'Nothing to see here,' Susan shouted into the silence, 'move your nosy arses somewhere else!'

As the crowd began to move and talk once more Melody quietly said, 'I apologise for my conduct. Please may I have my wand back?'

Harry nodded and handed her back her wand, just as he did so the bell rang signalling the end of break. Hermione cautiously stepped forward, 'come on Melody, we've got double potions next.'

'Let me guess,' Melody said sarcastically, 'the classroom is still in the dungeons?'

'Well, yes,' Hermione said and Melody rolled her eyes, 'I don't _need _a guide.'

'Well you have one and that's that,' Hermione said, shooting an exasperated glance back at her friends as she continued ahead with Melody.

Harry felt a little bad for chuckling at his friend's pain, he knew it wasn't fair because of all that Melody was going through, but Hermione was usually so patient and she kept losing her temper with Melody.

Potions was a godsend for Hermione because she didn't have to be with Melody for a whole double period. Today they were having another research/writing session as the deadline for the project drew ever nearer. Slughorn spent the entire period reading an apparently highly amusing book in his comfy chair at the front of the room. He occasionally sauntered around looking over everyone's shoulder but then he would go back to guffawing at the contents of his book.

When the bell rang to signal the end of the class Hermione led Melody to the great hall where they were forced to eat together but didn't say a word to each other throughout all of lunch. Others, like Susan, Hannah and Sadie tried to make conversation but were all shot down. From the head table Filch and Trelawney looked on anxiously.

'Come on,' Hermione said as she stood up, 'we've got Arithmancy next.'

Melody followed her lead and stood up silently, she grabbed her bag and the two girls marched from the hall together. Hermione didn't bother trying to lead Melody or tell her which way to go, she had learned quickly that nothing had changed since Melody was at school and by doing so she was only pissing the girl off.

They made their way up the staircase in awkward silence; they'd left earlier than the bell because Hermione liked to get to class a little early. When they reached the fourth floor Hermione began to climb the next staircase that led to the fifth floor, but when she turned to find Melody she saw her walking along the fourth floor corridor. Hermione bit her tongue and hurried after the girl, 'where are you going?' she asked.

Melody only continued walking, she didn't even bother to turn around as she replied, 'uh, Arithmancy duh.'

'Well you aren't,' Hermione said in annoyance, 'because it's on the 5th floor.'

'No, it's in the Magnus tower, it's always been there,' Melody said as she reached the end of the fourth floor corridor and turned right towards a wooden door that had always been locked.

'The what tower?' she asked, completely confused, how could Hogwarts have a tower that she'd never heard of? 'And that door has been locked ever since I arrived here by the way,' Hermione added as Melody grabbed the handle and tried to yank the door open.

Melody ignored this and pulled her wand out, 'Alohomora,' she mumbled and the door swung open. Hermione hurried after Melody as she walked in. The door led to a spiral staircase, there _was _a tower in here but it didn't look like it had been used in a long time, there were cobwebs everywhere and even bats living in the rafters that flew out of a smashed window when Melody and Hermione walked in.

'They can't not use it anymore,' Melody whispered, to herself Hermione assumed, because Hermione couldn't help, this was the first of her learning about this tower.

'Melody wait!' Hermione called as the Ravenclaw hurried up the stairs, Hermione groaned and rushed after her, they didn't even know if this part of the building was architecturally stable! After all, the central tower was inaccessible after being almost entirely destroyed in the final battle. The stairs seemed to go on forever but they also seemed to be secure, when Hermione caught up with Melody at the top of the tower she was out of breath, it had to be one of the highest in Hogwarts, it was higher at least than Gryffindor tower.

At the top of the tower was a spiralling corridor and a few doors leading off of it. Hermione couldn't see Melody so she walked slowly, using her wand to see as it was dark up here, the torches on the walls were not lit. One door said 'Classroom 36A, Ghoul Studies', the next door along had a brass plaque with the words 'Lost Wands Store' which Hermione could only assume had once been a lost and found for students wands. She had never heard of a subject called Ghoul Studies, perhaps it had once been taught but no longer was.

Further along the corridor were four more doors. Two were clearly old Defence against the Dark Arts classrooms as the doors said 'Classroom 37A' and 'Classroom 37B' each with the words 'Defence against the Dark Arts' emblazoned underneath. On the opposite side of the wall were two more doors with similar numbers, they read 'Classroom 38A' and 'Classroom 38B' and underneath was the word 'Arithmancy,' so this had obviously been where Arithmancy had been taught when Melody was at school.

It must have become disused fairly soon after that because the place didn't look like it had been touched in years. Hermione didn't know where Melody had gone so she glanced into both the Arithmancy and the DADA rooms but didn't see her there. She then walked further along the corridor and checked the old wand store which was small, dusty and empty. With a sigh Hermione pushed open the door to the Ghoul Studies classroom, when she walked in she wasn't surprised to see Melody sitting at one of the desks, but she was surprised that the Ravenclaw girl was crying. The room looked much like any other classroom, with several students' desks and a teacher's desk at the front. The windows looked out onto the mountains and there was a staircase leading up to what had probably been the office of the professor who taught in this room.

'Melody,' Hermione said gently as she approached the girl, she didn't jump, but she did tense up.

'Are you okay?' Hermione asked her voice soft as she sat down on a dusty chair at a desk near where Melody was sitting.

'I'm fine,' Melody said stiffly, she wiped her tears in embarrassment but didn't move to stand up.

'Was this tower in use when you were at Hogwarts?' Hermione asked, trying to sound helpful but not too sympathetic.

'Yeah,' Melody said simply, and Hermione didn't think she'd get anymore than that out of her, 'my Arithmancy classroom was along the corridor, but Defence was taught in the main school from my 2nd year onwards.'

'What about this classroom?' Hermione asked as she looked around the fairly ordinary room, 'I didn't realise there was a subject called Ghoul Studies.'

'There isn't anymore if this tower is disused,' Melody said, her voice sounded cold, but much more sad than it had before; 'this was the only classroom. Only a few students took it as an O.W.L and it wasn't available as a N.E.W.T.'

'It's a pity they stopped running it,' Hermione said honestly, 'it sounds like an interesting subject.'

'It was,' Melody said she still hadn't turned to face Hermione; she seemed to be staring at the teacher's desk.

'Was there a fight here?' Melody asked, and Hermione frowned, she then caught sight of the windows which were smashed in some places, there was also some debris in the room.

'Yes, there was a war and the final battle was fought here,' Hermione said, she looked out of the windows onto the serene mountains, and remembered when that scenery was obstructed by fire, 'Lord Voldemort returned to try and kill Harry Potter, the final battle was fought here and he was defeated.'

Melody frowned deeply and finally turned to face Hermione, she was glad to see that the coldness was thawing now, 'You shouldn't say the name,' Melody said, biting her lip, 'and I thought you-know-who was defeated by the boy-who-lived in 1981.'

'No,' Hermione said sadly, 'the boy-who-lived is Harry Potter, he's my best friend, and you met him today in the courtyard.'

'The boy with the glasses?' Melody asked with wide eyes, Hermione smiled and nodded, 'yeah, you probably remember him as a baby,' she laughed and Melody nodded.

'So he wasn't defeated, he came back?' Melody asked and Hermione sighed, she felt she was going to have to do her best to explain a long story in a short amount of time.

'No, he had made horcruxes and split his soul into 7 pieces,' Hermione said, she was about to go on when Melody elaborated for her, 'so his horcruxes had to be destroyed before he himself could die,' she was nodding and seemed deep in thought, 'I assume he was biding his time then, until he could be restored to his body, or another's body.'

'Exactly,' Hermione said, impressed by Melody's intelligence and knowledge, 'and he returned in 1995. Harry, myself and another friend of ours tracked down and destroyed the horcruxes then last year there was a battle here at Hogwarts. The death eaters got in through the barriers and the school was damaged pretty badly. In fact, I'm not even sure this part of the school is structurally stable.'

'We should probably get out then,' Melody said, but she didn't move.

'Is this place important to you?' Hermione asked, surveying the look in Melody's eyes.

'I never knew my Mother,' Melody said, the coldness temporarily gone from her voice, 'my Father raised me in this castle, he didn't know Sybil then, I mean he couldn't have, she was only 8 years old when I was born,' Melody shook her head, 'it's insane, my Dads girlfriend is only 8 years older than me, if you take into account my cat years.'

'I wouldn't,' Hermione said honestly, 'I mean they were lost years, you don'[t remember them and your body hasn't aged at all. I'd say you were 18 years old. It's kind of like time travel; you're the age you were then, before it all happened.'

'I guess,' Melody said, her voice normal for the moment, 'that does seem the easiest way to think about it,' she shrugged, 'anyway my Mother died before she saw me, she got the pox and I had to be delivered prematurely. I was kind of raised by the teachers here. It seems now that so many people important to me then are gone, my Godfather is dead, and I don't know where my Godmother is if she's not here teaching Ghoul Studies anymore.'

'Who was your Godfather?' Hermione asked curiously, she didn't expect an answer from Melody but she got one, 'Albus, he was Headmaster then, Minerva was only the Deputy.'

'Oh,' Hermione said, not sure what to say for a moment, 'Dumbledore...he only died recently, 2 years ago in fact. He was killed by a curse he got while destroying one of Voldemorts horcruxes.'

'At least I can know that he died fighting for the greater good,' Melody sighed, wiping her eyes once more, 'it's what he would have wanted. He probably greeted death like an old friend.'

'My Godmother, Selena Ellis, do you know of her?' Melody asked, almost desperately and Hermione wished that she could help, she shook her head, 'I haven't heard of her, I'm sorry.'

Melody merely shrugged and stood up, 'we better get to class,' she said as she left the room, she looked back with a sad glance. Hermione made her way down the staircase after Melody; the staircase wasn't really wide enough for two people to walk side by side. When the two girls were back in the main school Melody asked, 'do you know why it is no longer used?'

Hermione didn't know the answer, but she could hazard a guess, 'well as the years go on pureblood families are having problems with fertility so the intake has been gradually going down every year, the classrooms probably weren't needed anymore and 'Ghoul Studies' has never run in the 7 years I've been here. There probably just wasn't a need for the tower anymore. It's also fairly small and if it's not entirely structurally sound it could be dangerous for lots of students to be going up and down the stairs.'

Melody was quiet for a moment as they climbed the 5th floor staircase, the school was quiet and empty, everyone was in class and they were very late for Arithmancy.

'Why are you in '8th year?' and why am I to join this?' Melody asked, Hermione assumed this had already been explained to her but obviously not, 'well like I said there was a war and during that war Voldemort took control of the Ministry of Magic and prevented Muggle-borns coming to school, a lot of us were off fighting or too scared to come back to school because it was also Voldemort run. After the war we needed to get our N.E.W.T's but we had missed our last year of school so McGonagall invited us back to retake our last year. We all have a common room in the East tower because there isn't enough room in the house common rooms. The reason you're going to be sharing with us is partly because there isn't space in Ravenclaw tower, but also because you've been through a lot, and we've all been through a war. McGonagall thought you'd find it easier to fit in there.'

'Oh, okay,' Melody said, she was being fairly nice for the moment but it seemed to end there, because they reached Arithmancy. They entered the classroom and apologised for being late. Hermione then took her seat at the back of the classroom at a table she shared with Daphne, Sadie, Ginny and Luna.

'Why are you late?' Daphne asked curiously the moment Hermione sat down and opened her textbook.

Hermione answered this by making a movement with her head towards Melody who was making her way to the front of the class.

'What's she like Mione?' Ginny asked, gesturing towards Melody who was now sitting on her own at the front, Vector was explaining the changes in Arithmancy to her.

'She's okay,' Hermione said honestly, she'd seen a different side of Melody now, 'she's a bit up and down, and snappy, but I guess that's to be expected.'

'You've changed your tune,' Daphne teased and she and Sadie sniggered. Hermione rolled her eyes, 'well I saw a different side to her,' she said simply.

'By the way,' Hermione whispered, checking Vector was still talking to Melody, 'do any of you know about a disused tower called the Magnus tower?'

'Of course,' Luna said airily from across the table, 'it was in use until 1990 when the Ministry decommissioned its use.'

'Why did they decommission it?' Ginny asked in confusion, she'd never heard of it either.

'It was deemed structurally unsafe after an accident. It was also closed as a mark of respect to the Professor, who died there,' Luna said, there was a different kind of faraway look in her eyes, a sad look.

'How do you know this Luna?' Hermione asked, she was intrigued.

Luna turned around to make sure no one was watching and moved closer, everyone instinctively moved in closer too, 'the Witch who died in the tower was my Mother, she taught an old subject called 'Ghoul Studies', I was with her that day, I was 9 years old. The explosion killed my Mother and two pupils, it was all hushed up so not many people know about the tower.'

'I'm really sorry Luna, that's dreadful,' Sadie said, but Luna merely smiled and looked back down to her textbook.

'Luna...do you remember a girl called Melody visiting your house when you were younger?' Hermione asked, she'd just had a brainwave.

Luna didn't look up as she replied, 'yes, she was like a cousin, but she disappeared when I was about 4 years old.'

Hermione had figured it out, 'Luna...you're Mother wasn't by any chance called Selena Ellis, was she?'

'Selena Ellis-Lovegood, yes,' Luna said, now looking up, 'why do you ask?'

'See that girl over there, that's Melody Norris-Filch, she was imprisoned as a cat for 13 years. Her Godmother was your Mother,' Hermione said quietly and Luna didn't bother trying to be discreet as she turned around to where Melody was now staring blankly at her textbook.

Luna raised her hand and Vector, who was fond of her, smiled, 'yes Luna?'

'Professor Vector, I was wondering if I might sit with Melody to help her understand?' Luna asked, Vector's smile widened as she nodded, 'Of course Luna, I think that's a fantastic idea.'

The others watched as Luna made her way over to Melody and clearly explained to the girl what she'd just told Hermione, Daphne, Sadie and Ginny. Melody looked shocked, then upset and then nodded before eventually hugging Luna and smiling a sad but genuine smile at her fellow Ravenclaw.

Hermione sighed, and put her head in her hands, today had been a stressful day, and she still had two periods to go.

The rest of the day passed much as the earlier day had done, Melody returned to her fairly cold demeanour, although it was nowhere near as bad as it had been at the start of the day. By the time Transfigurations and Charms were over Hermione was happy to get into the common room and collapse onto a sofa with Draco.

Melody seemed to have made a friend in Luna and Hermione let her mind wander from the Ravenclaw girl...for a while.

TBC

**_A/N: If you hadn't guessed I wasn't writing much because it was exams/Christmas/New Year! I don't go back to university until the end of January now and have way too much spare time so expect lots of chapters in the coming month! Hope everyone is enjoying the new chapters!  
><em>**

**_Peace out,  
><em>**

**_Holly x  
><em>**


	46. I Wouldn't Be Bitter,I'd Just Be Better

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 46 – I Wouldn't Be Bitter, I'd Just Be Better Now**

After Melody had 'settled in' on Friday Hermione only saw her once and that was when she made her way through the common room upstairs to bed. Hermione had learned earlier from Sadie that Melody was joining the dorm room she shared with Hannah and Parvati, it had been Tracey's dorm room too but her bed had disappeared from the room after her death which had been difficult for Sadie to comprehend and deal with. Dean's bed had also vanished from the dorm he had shared with Neville, Theo, Ernie and Justin.

When Hermione woke up on Saturday morning Melody didn't even cross her mind as she ate breakfast with her friends. She then made her way to the library with Daphne, Sadie, Susan, Hannah and Lavender, the boys were out playing Quidditch and the girls had decided to spend the day in the library with the hope that if they worked right through they'd finish their potions project. Lavender had come with them to try and get caught up on all of her homework and because she enjoyed spending time with her new found friends.

The group made their way to the table in the library they usually worked at. They had just settled down with their books when they heard a strange noise coming from nearby.

Daphne heard it first, she frowned and looked up to the others, they were still engrossed in their books. She listened and heard it again, this time it was clear that the sound was a girl crying. Hannah looked up this time, she'd heard it too.

'Guys,' Daphne whispered, 'do you hear that?'

Sadie and Susan looked up and listened, they nodded as they heard the crying too.

'It sounds like a girl,' Susan said quietly as she glanced over her shoulder to try and figure out where Madam Pince was, but she was stacking books at the other side of the library.

'Where is it coming from?' Hannah whispered as she glanced behind the bookcase where the sound seemed to be coming from, 'there's no one there.'

'Maybe its Myrtle,' Sadie said, 'she can make herself invisible.'

'It's not Myrtle,' Hermione said as she finally looked up from her book, 'trust me, I spent enough time in her bathroom to know how her cry sounds.'

'Mione is right,' Susan said, 'Myrtle doesn't really cry, she kind of wails.'

Hermione and Susan chuckled at the thought and Daphne sighed, 'whoever it is sounds really upset, we should try and help her.'

With another glance to make sure Pince was still at the other side of the library she stood up and made her way around the bookcase, the others followed her. Daphne indicated that they shouldn't speak and edged towards a tapestry on the wall. When she approached it she lightly pushed against it and it moved, there was an opening behind it.

'Excuse me,' Daphne said gently, 'can we help you?'

The girl in the alcove stopped crying and the girls listened to the silence for a moment. Finally there was a call of, 'come in then, if you want.'

Daphne walked in first, the alcove was more like a room with a table and a few chairs in it. She motioned for the others to come in and the girls traipsed into the room where the girl who had been crying was sitting on one of the chairs, it was Melody.

'Melody!' Sadie realised, 'are you okay?'

Melody sighed and looked down, her eyes were red, puffy and bloodshot, she looked like she'd been crying a lot.

'No,' Melody said honestly, her voice breaking a little.

'Is there anything we can do?' Hannah asked, biting her nails, she hated seeing people upset, it stressed her out.

'I'm sorry,' Melody said quietly, 'for the way I treated you all yesterday, but I'm scared that if I make friends I'll lose them all again.'

'It's okay,' Hermione said as she took one of the wooden seats, Sadie took the other and Susan and Daphne pushed themselves up onto the table. Hannah stood a little way away from it all with Lavender who hadn't really met Melody yet.

'You especially Hermione,' Melody said, she looked guilty, 'you tried to be nice to me and I was horrible for no reason, even after all you did in the Magnus tower.'

'Don't worry about it,' Hermione said honestly, 'with the situation you're in I didn't expect you to be perfectly fine and happy straight away.'

'I doubt I'll ever be perfectly happy,' Melody said sadly, she looked down at her hands and her voice started to shake again, 'not without Roy anyway.'

'Was Roy your boyfriend?' Lavender asked sadly, she knew the pain of heartbreak.

Melody nodded, she was frowning and looked close to tears again, 'Dad said he bought a ring, he was going to propose at the prom,' Melody said as the tears fell, 'I got the pox 2 weeks before he got the chance.'

All of the girls had teary eyes at Melody's story.

'Gosh, that's awful,' Sadie said quietly and Melody shrugged, she was still frowning, 'I just wish I could have my life back.'

'Well, Roy would only be 31 now, if he was in your year,' Daphne said, trying to look on the bright side.

'Only 31?' Melody cried and Hermione quickly performed a muffliato charm on the tapestry at the entrance to their little alcove.

Melody was now in tears and a little hysterical, 'I'm 18! That's not a small age gap, its 13 years! He's probably married with children, he's probably forgotten all about me!'

'What's his full name?' Daphne interjected, calm even with Melody freaking out, 'you won't know unless you find him if he has moved on, will you?'

Melody seemed to consider this and sighed, 'his name is Roy Lockhart.'

Hermione's jaw dropped, Susan's jaw dropped, Daphne gaped like a fish, Sadie and Hannah shared gazes of surprise and Lavender exclaimed, '_Gilderoy _Lockhart?'

Melody was confused by the reactions but nodded, 'uh yeah, but nobody called him that, he hated it.'

'Well,' Susan said slowly, 'he definitely doesn't remember you.'

Melody immediately broke down in tears, 'he's dead, I knew it!'

'Susan!' Hannah whispered angrily, 'don't be so cruel!'

'She needs to find out anyway,' Daphne reasoned quietly, 'and whatever way she does it will be hard.'

'He isn't dead Melody,' Hermione said gently, and the girl's sobs eased enough for Hermione to be able to hear herself think, 'he isn't married and he doesn't have kids.'

'Then what do you mean?' Melody asked in despair, her question was directed at Susan who sighed, 'he taught at Hogwarts in our 2nd year, but he had an accident. He tried to cast a memory charm and it backfired, he barely knows who he is. He's been in St. Mungo's for the last 6 years.'

This set Melody off once more and the others just shared looks and mouthed to each other 'what now?'

They decided to wait a moment and see if Melody's crying eased, 'do I have any friends still alive?' she asked, still crying.

'I'm sure you do,' Hermione said kindly as she sat down on the floor by Melody, 'tell us some of your friends, we'll see if we can help.'

Melody nodded and wiped her tears on the sleeve of her cloak, 'my two best friends, Glenda Chittock and Gwenog Jones, Glenda was 4 years younger than me so she should be 26 now and Gwenog was my age so she should be 31.'

Hermione felt glad that she could give the girl some good news, 'Well Gwenog is still alive, and very famous. She plays for Holyhead Harpies and has done for quite some time.'

'She definitely remembers you,' Susan said with a smile, 'she has a tattoo on her neck of the Ravenclaw crest with a snitch, quaffle and bludger around it. In interviews she says it's a mark of a respect to her best friend who she lost as a teenager.'

Melody's eyes welled up with tears at this; 'really?' she asked quietly, 'that's so sweet.'

Susan reached into her back pocket and pulled out a photograph, 'this is her,' she said as she handed the photo to Melody.

Melody took the photograph with shaking hands and half-laughed, half-cried when she saw it, 'oh my gosh, she looks the same, so pretty,' she shook her head as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

'And Glenda?'

'She's famous too,' Lavender said as she moved away from the wall, 'she has a chocolate frog card.'

'Wow,' Melody said as the tears spilled from her eyes, 'what for?'

'She was the host of 'Witching Hour' on the Wizarding Wireless Network,' Lavender replied, the others hadn't heard of the woman, 'she's just left the show because she's pregnant with her first baby.'

'A baby, oh my gosh, that's so great,' Melody whispered to herself, 'and what about Bill, Bill Weasley? Is he okay? He was so sweet, he was a prefect when I was head girl,' she smiled fondly at the memories, 'we'd do our patrols together often, is he alright?'

The others were surprised that Melody had known Bill but Hermione replied, 'Yes, he's great actually,' she said honestly, 'he got married recently to a French woman and they've just had a baby, she's called Victoire.'

Melody smiled broadly at this, she was still crying, 'that is so so great.'

'Melody,' Sadie said slowly, she'd had an idea, 'if you'd like, we could take you to St. Mungo's to see Lockhart, I mean Roy, he won't recognise you, but you'd at least be able to see him.'

Melody considered this in silence for a moment as she wiped her tears again, 'I'd like that, but it will be hard, I think.'

'I imagine it will be,' Sadie said, adding, 'but we'll all be there.'

'If you want us to be that is,' Daphne added, and Melody nodded, she took a moment to catch her breath and said, 'I'd like you all to be there, but I don't deserve your kindness, not after my treatment of you yesterday.'

'The past is called the past for a reason,' Hermione said simply as she helped Melody to her feet.

'Let's get you back to the common room so you can get cleaned up,' Hannah said kindly as she and Sadie linked an arm through Melody's on either side. If Melody needed anything at the moment it was friends.

* * *

><p>The boys had planned to have a day of mucking about on the Quidditch field but they'd only been out for half an hour when the rain began to pour so they quickly changed their plans. 20 minutes and several drying charms later they found themselves in 'The Three Broomsticks' with a pint of butterbeer in front of them, or in Draco's case a glass of firewhiskey.<p>

'Can you believe it's March,' Neville said with a shake of his head, we've only got a few months left until exams and prom then that's it, we're done with school.'

'It's gone so fast,' Theo admitted, looking thoughtfully into his glass.

'It's been pretty eventful though,' Draco said, thinking back to all that had happened so far, the good and the bad.

'It always is when you're around me,' Harry joked, and Neville chuckled, 'that's true.'

'What are we going to do when school is done?' Theo asked, partly to himself and partly to the others, 'we're all going to be going our separate ways.'

'Nah we're not,' Harry said, 'well us 4 aren't anyway. We're going to see each other every day at Auror training Theo, don't get sentimental.'

'I'm not getting into Auror training Harry,' Theo said with a sigh as he drank from his pint glass, 'they do a background check, there's no way I'd pass.'

'Don't be daft Theo,' Harry said and Neville nodded, 'you don't have anything that's going to come up in a background check Theo, don't worry.'

Theo checked that no one was looking and said, 'oh yeah? I think they might take this into account,' he pulled his sleeve up and showed them the faint outline of a dark mark.

Harry and Neville were shocked, but Draco didn't seem to be, he had obviously already known. Theo was his best friend after all.

'Theo, you didn't tell me you were a death eater,' Harry hissed across the table.

'I wasn't,' Theo said bitterly, 'I never did anything; I never hurt anyone, or killed anyone. My Dad forced it on me, same as Draco.'

'Well then you still don't have a record,' Draco said simply, 'and the mark will be gone soon, mine is and I only got it a month before you, mine disappeared last month. If anyone isn't going to become an Auror it's me, I _do _have a criminal record, one that lists me as a death eater, traitor and has me down for the attempted murder of Albus Dumbledore.'

'Draco, I told you I'd pull all the necessary strings,' Harry began to say, but Draco cut him off, 'what strings? You'd have to pull all the bloody strings in the Ministry!'

'Draco,' Harry said quietly, 'I only have to pull one string. The Minister for Magic was recently Head Auror, I'll show him the memories and prove that you saved my life in the war; I'll prove you deserve it. They will at least give you a chance, once you're in the selection process there's an impartial judge, that part is on you.'

The air was tense for a moment until Neville made a really bad joke, 'an impartial judge? Does the goblet of fire watch us and then hold up a bit of paper with a number on it?'

It was so bad it broke the tension and made everybody laugh.

'Anyway, Nev and I both have something we need to tell you,' Theo began, sounding very serious which didn't happen very often.

'Oh, are you two finally coming out? It's about time,' Draco said with an amused smirk, Harry sniggered as Theo glared at his best friend.

'We were both talking about it, and we've decided to spend this afternoon ring shopping,' Theo said and he was completely serious.

Draco gaped, 'like engagement ring shopping?'

Theo and Neville nodded and Harry grinned, 'Oh wow, guys that's fantastic.'

Neville grinned, 'thanks Harry, I don't know when I'll do it yet, but I want to get the ring.'

'And you Theo,' Draco said to his friend, shaking his head, 'Theodore Roosevelt Nott, buying an engagement ring! What happened to you?'

'A lovely lady called Sadie Cauldwell happened to me,' Theo said with a smile, and Draco and Harry glanced at each other and made puking noises, Theo reached across the table and hit both his friends around the back of the head.

'Well good luck, with the shopping,' Harry said to his friends as they finished their drinks and stood up to leave.

'Yeah,' Draco said, a lot more shocked than Harry at this news, 'good luck'.

The two boys thanked their friends and left the three broomsticks. Draco stared after them for a moment and then shook his head, 'can you believe it? Engagements? You're not thinking of proposing to Daph are you?'

Harry shook his head with a small frown, 'oh no, no way. We've only been together since November remember?'

'Yeah, well Hermione and me haven't exactly been together long, but it's about the same length as Theo and Neville's relationships,' Draco said, apparently very thoughtful.

Harry shrugged and finished off his drink, 'yeah well it's different isn't it? Neville and Hannah both went through a war and they've known each other as friends since 1st year, same with Sadie and Theo. You and Hermione have only been going out a few months, but you've also only actually liked each other as people for a few months,' Harry said with a laugh, Draco laughed with him, the way he worded it made it sound amusing but it was actually true.

'Same with me and Daphne to be honest, I hadn't really noticed her until I came back for 8th year, so obviously we're going to do things at a different pace from the others,' Harry added as he stood, 'do you want another drink?' he asked Draco who simply nodded. Harry made his way to the bar and ordered another round, when he returned Draco seemed a little more back to normal.

It wasn't until Harry sat down that Draco shared his thoughts, and fears, with the Gryffindor.

'Harry, you realise things won't always be this way, don't you?' Draco asked with a distant look on his face.

'What do you mean by 'this way' Draco?' Harry asked, completely at a loss as to what the Slytherin meant.

Draco caught Harry's eye, 'In Hogwarts unity is all fine and well, but the world isn't like that. You've seen what the papers have done already and we're still in school.'

'Draco, what are you trying to say?' Harry asked as he studied his friend.

Draco looked down into his glass of firewhiskey, 'when we get out of here the world isn't going to be happy that you ditched your perfect Weasley best friend who you saved the world with so many times for the bastard who tormented you in high school.'

'God Draco you make it sound like I'm fucking you,' Harry muttered, partly amused and partly pissed, 'and the world can not like it all they want, they don't know what Ron did and I'm a good enough person to take the blow instead of selling him out to the Prophet, I'd say that's me being a good friend to Ron.'

'I'm just saying Harry that although we all know what happened the Prophet doesn't and the wizarding world will believe anything the Prophet says,' Draco said, getting more annoyed that Harry wouldn't take him seriously.

'And we own the Prophet Draco, we can control what's in it,' Harry said simply, but it wasn't as simple as that and he knew it, 'you know that's just you trying to convince yourself it will be okay when it won't. There are other newspapers out there, and we can't control everything the Prophet does, it doesn't need our go ahead to publish. All us owning it means is we get some profit and we can influence what we want published.'

'So what if we get a bit of bad press for being friends, I'll handle it, I've handled worse,' Harry said, also getting miffed that Draco wouldn't just accept that he was fine with it and shut up.

'Harry, what I'm trying to say is...' Draco trailed off and swallowed hard, 'if you want to distance yourself from me once we're out of school, if you want to you know, make our connection disappear, I'll understand.'

Harry couldn't actually believe what Draco was suggesting, he stared at his friend for a moment, 'hmm,' he said thoughtfully, 'let me think about that for a second...'

Draco watched Harry with a look of sadness, curiosity and worry in his eyes as Harry pretended to think very hard about this. Quickly his facade broke and he glared at his friend, 'no of course I won't distance myself from you!'

Harry could feel himself getting worked up, and when he got worked up into one of his rants it never ended well, 'You're my best friend you idiot, I'm not going to ditch you that easily, unless you do something really bloody stupid like screw over Hermione or try and steal my girlfriend, or beat Gryffindor in the Quidditch cup.'

Draco smiled slightly, he didn't often let people see his emotions or even let people in that easily, but Harry was fast becoming one of the few people who he trusted enough to be entirely himself with, 'well I will never screw anything up with Hermione, you can be sure of that, and you don't have to worry about me stealing your girlfriend. However no promises on the Quidditch cup,' he smirked and Harry smiled, 'that's more like it,' he said as he held his cup up and clinked it against Draco's, 'to not being a stupid git.'

Draco chuckled and took a sip of his whiskey, he appeared to be thoughtful again as he put it down on the table, 'it's not just us you'll have to worry about you know,' he said, by way of warning.

'In school the only problems you and Daph have are some extreme Gryffindors or Slytherins but when the wizarding world realise that your relationship with Daphne is serious it's going to affect your reputation. It's as prejudiced as ever out there and you're the golden boy-who-lived, and she's a Slytherin with death-eater scum for family.'

'Well like I said, whatever bad press I get I'll deal with it, it's that simple,' Harry said, in truth he didn't know how simple or complicated it would be.

'You're sheltered by Hogwarts at the moment, the real world is different. They will find out about Ginny and they'll wonder why you broke up with her for a Slytherin. That combined with your fall-out with Weasley and your friendship with me will cause questions to arise,' Draco said, a crease in his brow from all the frowning and worrying he'd being doing recently.

'I know Hermione will get it too, I've had a similar conversation with her, she says she doesn't care and she'll handle it, just like you have. When it actually happens though, it's different,' Draco sighed and drank more deeply from his glass, 'all I'm saying is this 'perfect' world we live in, this bubble, it's going to burst the second school ends.'

'I know,' Harry said quietly, it was a harsh truth he'd been avoiding, 'I know it will Draco, but can't I then enjoy living in the bubble while it lasts? Haven't we had enough pain recently with what happened to Dean and Tracey?'

Draco nodded, looking down into the deep depths of his firewhiskey once more as it slowly swirled, 'I'll say just one more thing. Once we're out there, we're in the public eye and once that happens they'll find out about you and Daphne. As soon as they know you can't go back, a bad break-up will cause you so many problems, not just with the press but in your career. Trust me on this Harry; I grew up being taught about this kind of thing by my Father. All I'm asking is that you think about your relationship with Daphne, make sure you really love her, make sure it's worth it and that it's going to last, okay?'

Harry tried to comprehend everything that Draco had said to give himself time to think of an answer, but in the end all he could do was nod and say weakly ,'right, I'll think about it.'

'Good,' Draco said, he drained the half glass of firewhiskey and threw his head back with a deep sigh, 'Merlin I don't want school to end.'

Harry drained what was left in his glass and sighed too, he shook his head, 'I don't even want to think about it Draco,' he said as he stood up and put his winter cloak on. The Slytherin did the same and the two friends made their way out into the rain.

* * *

><p>When Hermione, Daphne, Hannah, Sadie, Susan and Lavender arrived in the entrance hall of St. Mungos they were sporting a very nervous and shaky Melody. She had changed out of her school clothes and was instead dressed in a dark blue denim dress that buttoned up and had a light brown belt around the waist, she wasn't wearing any make up (she never did) and her hair was left down. She looked beautiful, but a little pale and her hands were shaking as she approached the front desk with the others.<p>

There was a small queue which gave Melody a little time to look around. The hospital hadn't changed since the last time she was here, which felt like yesterday. She'd been back here briefly after her 'breakdown' but Melody hadn't seen the reception then. This was the first time she'd seen it since she'd come here with the pox. It was a little more up to date and clean, but no less white or clean smelling. Melody wrinkled her nose, she hated hospitals. She caught sight of a sign near the desk and swallowed hard as she read what one of the floors was for, 'Magical Bugs – Contagious maladies, e.g. dragon pox, vanishing sickness, scrofungulus, etc.'

Melody's gaze was drawn away from the sign as their 'little' group reached the WelcomeWitch at the front desk. She had bleached blonde hair, was sitting with her feet up on a stool and was chewing something pink that looked mysteriously like gum despite the sign above her head which was boldly saying in capital letters 'NO FOOD OR DRINK'.

Hermione took lead on the speaking, although she did gently take Melody's hand and pull her forward, 'Hi, we're here to visit Gilderoy Lockhart, he has severe memory loss.'

'Can't you read the sign?' the witch asked, looking at them like they were stupid, 'memory loss clearly comes under spell damage, 4th floor.'

'Right,' Hermione mumbled, she led the others through the double doors behind the desk and mumbled to Melody, 'I forgot how happy the workers here are.' This got a nervous chuckle from the girl. Hermione saw how much she was shaking and linked her arm through Melody's, the Ravenclaw stopped shaking slightly and quietly said, 'thank you, Hermione'.

When they got to the end of the corridor they made their way up a staircase and Daphne hurried to catch up with her friend, 'you know your way about St. Mungo's a bit too well,' she said quietly so Melody wouldn't hear.

Hermione sighed sadly as she thought of the last time she'd been here, 'I've been here before, I spent Christmas here with Ron's Dad, he was very ill. That same Christmas I saw Lockhart and he's completely out of it, Melody isn't going to recognise him.'

'She needs to see him and see that for herself if she's going to take the first step towards getting over him,' Daphne reasoned and Hermione smiled slightly, 'that was very wise Daph.'

Daphne smirked, 'Sadie said it a moment ago when you were talking to the WelcomeWitch,' she admitted with a laugh. Hermione only rolled her eyes at her as they continued to climb the staircase.

Eventually they reached the top and saw a sign saying 'SPELL DAMAGE'. There was a mini-reception with a much more welcoming looking middle-aged Witch and Hermione walked up to the desk ready to speak for Melody again but this time she didn't need too.

'Excuse me,' Melody said, rather shyly and quietly, 'I'm here to see Gilderoy Lockhart.'

The witch smiled, 'oh Gilderoy, that will be lovely dear, he doesn't get many visitors. He's so sweet as well.'

Melody only managed to nod as the Witch led her along a corridor and said, 'he's just in there Miss.'

Melody took a deep breath and turned around, 'do you mind if you wait outside?' she asked anxiously, there was a line of chairs in the corridor and a window into the room where Gilderoy Lockhart was staying.

The others shook their heads and took seats, they didn't mind at all; in fact they'd have felt like intruders.

'We just wanted to be here for moral support,' Sadie said and Hannah nodded with a smile, 'and you know we're right outside if you need us.'

Melody nodded and looked through the glass. All she could see was the back of his head, but his hair was as blonde and curly as it had been then, she smiled, although she still felt more nervous than she ever had in her life.

Hermione was making her way over to a seat next to Daphne when Melody grabbed her hand, 'Hermione, I wondered...' Melody trailed off and flushed pink a little, 'I wondered if you'd come in with me?'

Hermione smiled and nodded, 'of course I will,' she said. Melody took a deep breath and Hermione asked, 'are you ready?'

Melody nodded so Hermione opened the door into the room and let Melody walk in, she kept a little distance behind the girl, she wanted her to be able to handle this on her own, but she knew that Hermione was there if she was needed.

Lockhart didn't turn around at the opening of the door; he was too busy talking to the old healer who was doing her rounds.

'Oh yes, I'm quite famous do you know? You should read my books,' he was saying.

'Oh, I will,' the old witch said with a smile, Hermione guessed this conversation had happened several times with several different healers.

Melody finally seemed to have found her voice, 'Roy,' she said quietly in a small, broken voice.

Lockhart was getting his blood tests done so he didn't turn around from where he was sitting on the bed, 'Roy? There's no Roy here, only me, Gilderoy Lockhart! Would you like an autograph?'

Melody's eyes were already filling up with tears, she didn't know this man. She didn't know what to say, or do; she just wanted to run away.

'Roy, don't you know who I am?' Melody asked sadly, as the tears spilled from her eyes. The healer finished her tests and walked by Melody, she paused and said, 'I wouldn't expect much my dear, he doesn't remember himself.'

Melody nodded, a few more tears falling as she did so. The healer left the room and the door closed with a loud click. All around the walls were covered in pictures of the man, pictures of himself, all signed. Who was this man?

'Roy...please...' Melody begged through her sobs, 'recognise me. You must know who I am.'

Lockhart stood up and said, his voice still jovial, 'oh alright let me have a look at you, then I'll get you this autograph,' he finished signing the photo of himself that was in his hand and turned around to face Melody for the first time.

The moment his eyes fell on Melody something changed. The photograph fell out of his hands and he walked forward with wide eyes.

'Melody?' he croaked, his voice was suddenly small, quiet and harsh, like he had been crying.

'Roy?' Melody asked, unsure if it was really him. He looked so different, so old, so many more lines than she had known were drawn on his face, but his eyes were as blue as she'd known and as alive.

'I thought...your Father...he told me you were gone,' Lockhart said in a quiet, broken voice.

'I was, but I'm back, and you remember, you remember me Roy!' Melody cried, she rushed forward and threw herself into his arms and held him tight, she sobbed hard onto his shoulder and Lockhart himself shed tears as he held Melody tight. Hermione quietly slipped from the room and rolled her eyes when she saw 5 girls all crowded around an extendable ear as they looked through the glass.

'You are all so nosy!' Hermione exclaimed as she herself placed her ear as close to the extendable ear as she could.

'Hypocrite,' Daphne mouthed and Hermione childishly just stuck her tongue out at this comment.

Inside the room Melody pulled away from the hug and Lockhart looked at her like he hadn't seen her in years, well he hadn't.

'What happened Mel?' he asked, still in that broken voice.

'It's a long story Roy, but I'll explain that later,' Melody said, laughing because she could, because she was with Roy again and she felt like some part of her life was restored.

It was only then that Lockhart looked down and frowned, 'what am I wearing?' he asked as he looked at the white cotton hospital pyjamas he was wearing. He frowned as he looked at his arms, 'what's happened to me Mel?' he asked as he began to panic. Hermione quickly called the Mediwitch from earlier who hurried into the room and was astounded to see that Lockhart had his memory back.

'What happened? Why do I look like this?' Lockhart asked as he caught sight of his face in a mirror, 'why am I so old?'

'Gilderoy,' the old witch began to say but Lockhart made a face, 'don't call me that, my name is Roy.'

'Roy, you suffered from extreme memory loss,' Melody explained, putting her hand on his arm to calm him down. He frowned and sat down on the bed, Melody sat down next to him.

'What happened?' the witch asked Melody as she jotted down notes on her clipboard. Melody replied, 'Roy looked at me and he remembered me, it was instant. It will last won't it, this won't go away again?'

The old witch smiled, 'I highly doubt it miss,' she said honestly, 'however Gi-' she cut herself off, 'Roy, doesn't seem to have recovered all of his memories so I'll have to ask him a few questions.'

Melody simply nodded and slipped her hand into Lockhart's, outside in the corridor the girls aww-ed at this.

'Roy, can you tell me what your oldest memory is?' the witch asked kindly as she sat down on a plastic stool by Lockhart's bed.

Lockhart thought about this for a moment and then replied, 'my first fishing trip with my Father, I was around 5 years old.'

The witch nodded and jotted this down, 'and what do you remember of your school years?' she asked.

'I was a Ravenclaw, I was in the same year as this beautiful girl,' he added, looking fondly at Melody, 'my favourite subject was Defence against the Dark Arts though my best O.W.L was Transfiguration, I was a member of the Ravenclaw duelling club...is that enough? Oh I played seeker on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team too.'

The witch nodded once more and wrote this down.

'When were you born?'

'The 26th of January, 1968.'

'Full name?'

'Gilderoy Matthew Lockhart.'

The witch took down both of these details then asked simple questions like what Lockhart's blood-status was, and the names of his parents. Once these standard questions were out of the way she moved onto the big one.

'And Roy, what is the last thing you remember?'

Lockhart didn't seem to have to think hard about this at all, 'I remember being in 7th year at Hogwarts. I remember Melody getting sick with the pox and then disappearing, I was told she was presumed dead by her Father. The last thing I remember is failing my N.E.W.T's and getting drunk.'

'And what date was that?'

Lockhart again didn't seem to think very hard about this as he replied, 'the 28th of June, 1986.'

Outside in the corridor everyone gasped and gaped as they realised that Lockhart had only regained his memories up until the moment Melody had left. Inside the room Melody explained that she had caught the pox and experimental treatment had led to her being stuck in the body of a cat for 13 years. She then told the witch that Lockhart had suffered a breakdown on the 28th of June and according to her Father had never been the same since.

The witch said she'd have to do some tests but Melody was welcome to stay in the room so Melody sat on the plastic stool by Lockhart's bed as he lay on the bed to get tests done. The curtain of the window they were looking through was pulled shut so the girls drew in the extendable ears.

'So he only remembers up until Melody left,' Susan stated, no one was quite sure what to make of that.

The others nodded, 'is that good or bad?' Hannah asked, and nobody really knew the answer.

'Good,' Hermione said with a little smile, 'mentally they are the same age now.'

'Yes, but he has to live in a body much older than his years. That isn't fair, is it?' Sadie questioned, she was always looking into the moral and ethical side of these things.

'True, but he was clearly not happy after Melody left, you heard her say he had a breakdown,' Daphne argued, 'I mean isn't he better off not remembering all of that pain?'

'Not to mention remembering the fact he was a fraud,' Lavender piped up, she had been fairly quiet until now, 'he must have become that way because of Melody's disappearance, I'm sure he'd be ashamed if he had to remember that.'

'I suppose,' Susan said thoughtfully, and for a moment they were silent as they all thought about the scenario and how they would feel if it was them.

They were then distracted by the door opening and Melody walking out with a smile on her face, 'he remembers me!' she said happily, although they already knew this from their nosiness, 'the healer just did a few quick tests and she says that whatever clicked when he saw me was so powerful that his brain used all it had to restore the memories of me. She says there is no chance of his other memories coming back.'

'What about his short term memory?' Hannah asked, she was the one who wanted to be a healer.

'It's fine,' Melody said happily, she was grinning broadly from ear to ear, 'the only problem now of course is the fact that he's in the body of a 31 year old man but mentally he's 18, like me.'

The others nodded, but Hannah was frowning slightly as if in thought, 'what about a de-aging potion? That could change his looks and give him back the years he lost; it would effectively make you both the same age again.'

The Mediwitch had just come out of the room in time to hear Hannah say this and responded, 'de-aging potions are extremely rare and very expensive, and there is a long waiting list for them ma'am.'

'How long a list?' Hannah asked, the witch seemed to think about this a moment before replying, '6 months to a year.'

Melody had up until now being feeling quite hopeful but her face fell at these words, Hannah narrowed her eyes, 'that doesn't sound right,' she said but the witch just grunted at this response and said, 'well it is, I work here missy, not you.'

On that note she walked away, but Hannah gave Melody a comforting smile, 'don't worry just yet Melody, I'll be right back,' she said as she hurried off down the corridor.

'Where on earth is she going?' Daphne asked as she watched Hannah hurry away the way they'd come in.

'I have no idea,' Hermione replied as she too frowned after Hannah.

'I have an idea,' Susan said with a small smile.

'What is it?' Sadie asked, but Susan just shook her head and refused to answer so they sat in silence for a moment waiting for Hannah to return. The seconds ticked by, and then the minutes did too. Nobody could find it in themselves to make small talk so when Hannah returned 10 minutes later everybody was glad, but they were also surprised when they realised that she had brought Neville with her.

'What are you here for?' Daphne asked in surprise as Neville grinned, 'nice to see you too Daph,' he joked as she rolled her eyes, 'you know what I mean.'

'I had a feeling you'd left to call Neville,' Susan said, she understood Hannah's mentality a lot more than the others did.

'So who do I speak too?' Neville asked Hannah who replied, 'The Head of the Department,' she grabbed his hand and rushed him down a corridor.

'What on earth is that about?' Daphne asked the others who shrugged.

'I don't know what hold Neville has over St. Mungos, surely Harry or Draco would have been better,' Sadie said with a frown.

Daphne shook her head, 'Nah, Harry has no hold here, only at the Ministry.'

'Doesn't Draco own a share in St. Mungo's though?' Hermione asked the others generally.

The person who replied turned out to be Lavender surprisingly enough, 'not anymore, his Father was forced to sell it when he was arrested at the end of the war,' Lavender flushed pink at the stunned looks she was getting, 'I read it in the Business news,' she said quietly.

'Hm, well either way I don't know what Neville's hold over anyone here is,' Daphne said, Susan shrugged, she didn't know exactly what was going on either, 'it might have something to do with his parents,' she guessed.

'It could do,' Hermione said, but before anyone could find out what it could or couldn't be Hannah and Neville walked past once more and Hannah called, 'we're going to the Head of St. Mungo's.'

Hermione and Daphne shared a mischievous glance. Daphne grinned and grabbed the extendable ears, Hermione smirked, 'stay here and keep an eye on Melody,' she told the others; Melody was back in the room with Lockhart now. With that she and Daphne hurried after Neville and Hannah to the office of the Head of St. Mungo's.

By the time they reached the office where Hannah was pacing outside of they were many things, including confused as hell and out of breath.

'Wow this place has a lot of stairs,' Daphne wheezed, 'shouldn't hospitals have bloody ramps or something?'

'You're supposed to be the fit Quidditch player,' Hermione teased as she eased the extendable ear under the door and pressed her ear against it, 'come on Hannah!' she said to the Hufflepuff who hurried over. Daphne caught her breath and pressed her ear against the fake ear, still breathing heavily.

'Shh, breathe less!' Hermione said, getting a glare from the Slytherin.

They finally got some audio coming through. They could now hear what was going on inside the office.

'I still don't understand why you're here Mr. Longbottom,' a brisk, harsh voice was saying.

'I'm not entirely happy with your practice Mr. Beckett,' Neville said, sounding slightly angry but not fired up.

'My practice is as good as ever Mr. Longbottom. I see no reason for you being unhappy with it,' Beckett said, his voice steady and calm; he didn't sound like a very nice man.

'I happen to know a girl called Melody Norris-Filch. You recognise that name? Of course you do because she's suing you for malpractice and her lawyer by the way, is very good, so you are going to lose a hefty sum to that girl. Unless of course you give her what she wants, which is a de-aging potion.'

'De-aging potions are rare and the waiting list is long,' the head began to say but Neville wouldn't let him continue.

'Show me your stock list Mr. Beckett.'

'I have no requirement to do that-'

'No Mr. Beckett you don't,' Neville said, now that he was raising his voice this could get nasty quickly, 'however I own 25% of the shares of this hospital and at a time as financially critical at this I don't think you want me pulling out! You need my money Mr. Beckett, so don't pretend I'm not an important investor.'

From what they could hear it sounded like Neville was now pacing the room, 'that girl down there has gone through hell and by giving the man she loves a simple potion that would restore his looks to his mental age you could be giving her back her life! I would like to see that stock list, _now_, Mr, Beckett.'

There was a pause and then...

'Of course Mr. Longbottom.'

Outside Hermione and Daphne shared a quiet hi-five and grinned at Hannah.

Inside the room the sound of paper being shuffled was heard. Then there was a tense silence in which they could only assume that Neville was looking at the stock list.

'You have 6 brewed de-aging potions in your stock,' Neville stated and Beckett didn't speak, so he had obviously merely nodded.

'Your waiting list, Mr. Beckett,' Neville said, the authority in his voice out of place, but intriguing.

There was the sound of paper being shuffled yet again and another silence which was broken quickly.

'YOU HAVE 6 POTIONS IN YOUR STOCK AND ONLY 4 PEOPLE ON YOUR WAITING LIST AND YOU, AND YOUR STAFF, ARE REFUSING TO GIVE THAT POTION TO SOMEONE IN NEED OF IT!'

Nobody had ever really heard Neville that angry, but Hermione smirked, this was bad-ass snake killing, cardigan wearing Neville.

Inside the room there was silence and then...

'I see your point Mr. Longbottom. I will allow the use of this potion on two conditions.'

'I understand. The conditions are that Melody is to lessen her charges on the hospital, and that I pay you a fee?'

'No,' the voice was harsh and in control again, 'the girl drops her claim to sue the hospital and you up your shares to 40%.'

There was a pause again; outside in the corridor Daphne, Hermione and Hannah were all holding their breath.

'Deal,' Neville said and then from the sound of it they shook hands.

Beckett then said, 'once the girl has signed the relevant paperwork, I will release the potion to you.'

'And I won't sign my shares to you until he's been restored by the potion,' Neville said, there was no pause this time as Beckett said, 'done.'

Hermione quickly pulled the extendable ears out of the door and pushed them into her pocket. She, Daphne and Hannah hurried to a seat and sat down trying to look innocent as Beckett saw Neville out of his office.

The moment the door clicked shut behind Beckett Hannah hurried up to Neville and kissed him, 'you were brilliant!' she said as they began to make their way back to the fourth floor to give Melody the news.

'Wow, that was so frickin' badass Neville!' Daphne said with a grin, she chuckled as she looked to Hannah and jokingly said, 'I think I picked the wrong Gryffindor!'

Hannah only laughed and Neville flushed pink, he shrugged, 'I don't like doing it,' he said honestly, 'but when it's for the greater good...'

'You sound like Dumbledore,' Hermione teased and Neville merely smiled, 'Hey, I did, didn't I? Why are you lot so keen on this anyway?'

'I only had a few minutes to explain on the jog up here,' Hannah said to the others by way of explanation so Hermione said, 'well you know she's had a hard time and if she can have Lockhart back entirely the way she knew him then I think that will make a huge difference to her.'

Neville nodded and smiled at the 3 girls as they neared the fourth floor corridor where the others were awaiting. The office hadn't been far away, it had just been up lots of stairs, so naturally the walk back _down _the stairs had been much quicker.

'It's a good thing you all did,' he said, still smiling as they reached the corridor, 'I bet this will really change her life.'

'I hope so,' Hannah said honestly as they reached the others, she grinned, 'my amazing boyfriend just managed to convince the Head of St. Mungo's to give Lockhart the potion, but there are conditions we'll need to check with Melody.'

'How did you hear that conversation through the door?' Neville asked in amusement as Hermione knocked and slowly entered the room to check the conditions with Melody.

Daphne grinned and smirked, 'extendable ears,' she said with a grin and Neville laughed, 'right, I forgot you were a prankster.'

Daphne laughed too, 'wait until Harry finds out you've out-bad-assed him,' she said, whistling as she imagined her boyfriends reaction, 'I reckon it will be the start of a prank war.'

'Alright then, you can tell him to bring it on,' he said with a smirk and Daphne's grin widened, she could have some real fun with this.

Hermione came out of the room and gave Neville the thumbs up, 'she agreed, she says she'll sign as soon as possible.'

Neville walked into the room with a stack of paper he'd come out of Beckett's office with and 30 minutes later everybody was anxiously waiting outside the curtained off room while Lockhart was being given the potion.

The air was quite tense, everybody was worrying more for Melody than Lockhart, but either way they all wanted this to go well. They felt like they'd been waiting forever when the door to the room opened and Melody and Lockhart walked out of the room together.

The sight was amazing. Lockhart was still wearing the same white hospital pyjamas but he looked remarkably different. The lines in his face were gone, his eyes were as blue and alive and bright as ever. His blonde hair was bouncy and curly as it had always been. He was the same height, but slimmer and as he stood in the doorway holding Melody's hand the others actually cheered.

It was such a happy ending to such a sad story and in the world they lived in, that didn't happen very often. Melody had never looked so happy and the others were just as happy for her, even if they had only known her a few days. Melody rushed forward and hugged them all individually.

'Thank you for being such good friends,' she said, and she really meant it.

It was then as Hermione grinned at her _friend_ that she realised how glad she was that she hadn't given up on Melody the day before when she'd been so bitter and cold. Perseverance had won, and it had also won her a great friend.

* * *

><p>As Harry and Draco made their way through the rain back to Hogwarts after their drink, debate and heartfelt moment in 'The Three Broomsticks' the rain turned to snow, even though it was now March.<p>

The two friends didn't talk much as they walked through what was fast becoming a blizzard; they kept their cloaks close to their bodies and walked briskly. Harry had no intention of going straight back to the castle however and when he and Draco reached the gate he informed his friend of this.

'Draco!' he called, to get the Slytherins attention over the howling wind.

'Yeah?' Draco called back as he stopped and turned around to face Harry; his cheeks were pink with the cold.

'Head back to the castle; I'm going to stop off somewhere!' Harry shouted, pulling his cloak closer and casting a warming charm on himself.

'Are you sure? I don't think you're gonna want to be out in this for much longer!' Draco yelled, as he followed Harrys lead and cast a warming charm on himself too.

'I'll be fine, honestly, I'll see you later!' Harry shouted as he turned and began to trudge through the snow which was falling so fast and thick that it was lying on the ground already.

Draco watched him for a moment wondering if he should try and convince his friend to go back to the castle with him, but the moment he realised that Harry was making his way towards the little graveyard in the grounds he knew then there was no point trying to convince the Gryffindor to come back. So Draco trudged towards the great front doors of the castle. Harry was a big boy, he knew how to cast warming charms, he wasn't stupid enough to let himself die of hypothermia. The thought sent a shiver down Draco's spine as he thought of his Father.

Harry was indeed on route to the graveyard and when he got there and forcefully pushed the little gate open, he felt tears start to well in his eyes, he wasn't entirely sure why they were there or who they were for. Harry made his way to the grave he was looking for, that of Remus Lupin. He reached it and dropped to his knees in front of it. He hoped if he stared at the grave for long enough it would help him, but he knew he was being foolish.

Harry had been thinking about what Draco said ever since he had said it. Remus would have known what to do, he would have given Harry advice and Harry would have then known what to do, but he wasn't here now. How could Draco tell him to do that, to think carefully about whether or not he loved Daphne? Of course he loved her, didn't he? Or was it lust or teenage romance? It felt like love now, it had always felt like love but Draco had put doubts in his mind now as to whether or not it was. Now he was faced with coming out into the public eye with her and dealing with the backlash and while before he was sure she was worth it he doubted that now too. He was also cursing Draco inwardly.

Harry didn't realise how long he'd been sitting at the grave for until he felt a large hand on his shoulder. He jumped at first until he realised that it was only Hagrid who wordlessly and effortlessly picked Harry up and carried him towards his 'hut'. It wasn't until Hagrid had put Harry down in an armchair in front of the fire that he realised how cold he was and how much he was shivering.

'Wha' were yeh doing at Remus's grave?' Hagrid asked as he started to boil the kettle.

Harry's teeth were chattering as he replied, 't...t...trying to s...s...seek some advice.'

'From a gravestone?' Hagrid asked, giving Harry a sympathetic look.

Harry couldn't bring himself to speak so he just nodded and Hagrid sighed, 'Harry, yeh need ter talk ter people who are alive for advice,' he said as he poured out the kettle and made Harry a large cup of tea which immediately warmed his hands the moment Hagrid placed it in them.

Harry stared into the fire for a while as he sipped his tea, Hagrid didn't push him to speak or bother him by asking questions. He just let him sit and be lost in his thoughts.

'Hagrid, I'm worried about my relationship with Daphne and how it's going to appear to the public when school ends and the Prophet get a hold of it,' Harry eventually said, glad to find that his teeth were no longer chattering and his lips didn't feel as swollen.

Hagrid didn't seem to know how to reply; he simply sighed and placed his mug of tea down on the coffee table. He then stood up and left the room for a moment leaving Harry confused until Hagrid returned with something that looked strangely like a...

'Hagrid!' Harry exclaimed, 'is that a pensieve?'

Hagrid nodded as he placed it on the coffee table and closed his eyes. He held his finger against his temple and pulled out the silvery substance that was memories. He frowned as he placed the memory in the pensieve. It immediately began to take shape, although all that could be seen was darkness, trees and two blurry shadowy figures.

'Hagrid, where did you get a pensieve?' Harry asked in surprise.

Hagrid looked a little sheepish, 'It's no' mine, it's Olympe's. She's ou' today, but I don' think she'll mind me using it this once.'

'What are you going to show me?' Harry asked with a frown as he tried to get a closer look at the memory in the pensieve.

'See for yoursel',' Hagrid said simply so Harry did as he was told and took a breath before sticking his head inside the pensieve. He felt the falling feeling take over and then when he opened his eyes he found himself standing inside the memory.

_He was near Hagrid's hut and it was very late at night. The spot was very close to the forbidden forest. At first Harry was confused as to what he was supposed to be seeing but then two young men came into the scene and they were arguing, fairly loudly too._

_Harry frowned, squinting at the two men as they got closer. Finally he recognised them as Remus and Sirius. They were much younger, they looked around the age he was now. They were obviously in their 7__th__ year at Hogwarts._

'_Sirius stop and think about it!' Remus begged and Sirius eventually stopped walking away from him. _

'_I've thought about it!' Sirius exclaimed as he spun around to face Remus, 'and it is not happening Remus! I'm not letting the Prophet find out!'_

'_So it's okay when nobody apart from James and Lily knows about us? But the second somebody gets suspicious I mean nothing to you?!' Remus shouted, Harry couldn't see his face clearly, but he could hear the sadness, anger, betrayal and hurt in the young man's voice._

'_Remus, I can't let it happen. I'm not letting the press find out, I won't,' Sirius said, he too sounded upset, but he was not relenting._

'_Then you don't love me Sirius, because if you did you would stand through everything with me!' Remus said, his voice quieter, but sounding even more hurt than before._

'_Remus! I would stand with you, I have-'_

'_But you don't want anyone to know about it,' Remus said bitterly, 'so that's a lie Sirius.'_

'_Well what are you going to do about it then Remus? If I refuse to let the press find out, to be public about it?' Sirius asked, testing the other man._

'_Do you refuse?' Remus asked, his voice was quiet and quite dangerous._

'_Yes,' Sirius said, his voice was just as dangerous._

'_Then that's it, if you won't be seen with me in public I can't do this,' Remus said and it sounded like his heart was breaking._

'_Fine,' Sirius said, he sounded both angry and bitter, 'we're done, over! FINISHED!' _

_Remus was already walking away as Sirius yelled, 'OVER REMUS!'_

_The moment Remus had disappeared into the shadows Sirius fell to the cold, wet ground and broke down completely._

The memory then began to fade and blur and Harry felt himself being pulled back into the real world. He opened his eyes and was back in Hagrid's hut.

'So there _was_ something there,' Harry said quietly as he fell back onto one of the comfy chairs by the warm fire. He had always wondered about his Godfather and his fellow Marauder.

Hagrid nodded, and looked out of the window into the blizzard like weather, 'but as yeh saw it ended badly, all becaus' Sirius was scared o' how his reputation would be affected. Do yeh understand?'

Harry nodded, he understood completely. He stared into the fire once more and accepted Hagrid's offer of a cupcake and another mug of tea.

The rest of the day turned out to be rather enjoyable as Harry spent it catching up with Hagrid with hot tea in front of a warm, toasty fire. As he trudged through the snow on his way back to the castle 2 hours later Harry was still unsure about many things, but there was one thing he was sure about, thanks to Hagrid.

And that was that no matter what happened, and regardless of what anyone else said, Harry was completely in love with Daphne Greengrass. She was completely and entirely worth anything that the press could throw at him and he was never going to give her up. He wouldn't make the same mistake his Godfather had done so many years before him.

_**TBC **_


	47. We Knew That We Were Destined to Explode

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 47 – We Knew That We Were Destined to Explode**

March dragged by and the snow once more turned to rain. The days seemed to last forever. Melody finally began to settle in at Hogwarts, with the help of Hermione and Luna particularly she managed to get back on track to preparing for her N.E.W.T's. She was happier now, and the real Melody was a very lovely person. Hermione had become fairly close with her, but she doubted Melody would ever become a member of the 'group', she preferred to stick with her own kind and she had become close with Luna. Gilderoy Lockhart could be seen coming and going from the castle, he often got glares from Filch when he was seen being too close to Melody.

As March went on career meetings popped up. These were compulsory and were with the Head of House. Harry remembered his initial meeting with McGonagall in his 5th year, that was pretty much when he decided that he'd like to be an Auror.

This time was different, these meetings meant more. People came back with application forms; it was scary how close they were getting to being out there in the real world. Harry thought he'd be better prepared for it, after all he'd been out in the world on his own for the better part of a year, but that had been different. This was real life, it was the wizarding world, it was civilisation, not living in a tent for months on end. Harry sighed as he continued to fill in his application form to be part of the Auror process, he knew he'd get in, regardless of his application but he was still doing his best to fill out the 60 page form efficiently. The common room was empty, most people were in class but Harry had a free period, the time was passing slowly because he was waiting for Draco and Theo to return to the common room. Draco technically should have gone straight back to Ancient Runes, and Theo should have been on his way to Astronomy, but they were both coming back to the common room to tell Harry how the meeting had gone. They were in right at the back of each other and had been gone an hour now.

Harry was about to take a break and put his quill down when the portrait hole swung open and his two friends made his way into the common room.

'How'd it go?' Harry asked the two boys the second they were in the room.

'You first Theo,' Draco said as he sat down on an armchair by the fire. Harry abandoned his forms and made his way over to the fire, he sat down on the sofa next to Theo. Neither of his friends had application forms and Harry's heart sank.

'Well I told Slughorn about the Auror thing,' Theo said, he had a small smile on his face, 'and he told me that I would have to get the grades first, but he thought that I could. He checked me out for a criminal record and said I was fine, but as a Slytherin and because of my family history I'd need 4 references.'

'Well I'll be one,' Harry said instantly and Theo smirked, 'I told him you'd say that, he said he'd be another.'

'McGonagall will give you one,' Harry added with a small smirk, 'she pretends she doesn't, but she likes you, you remind her of Sirius.'

'I thought she might, which means I just have to find a 4th reliable reference,' Theo said, he reached into his bag and pulled out the forms.

'Great!' Harry said happily, he wanted to hug Theo, but he knew that the Slytherin would just tease him, so instead Harry turned on Draco.

'And how did yours go, Draco?' Harry asked, biting his lip, he sincerely hoped it had gone well.

Draco shrugged; he looked up for the first time, 'it could have gone worse,' he said honestly, 'I told Slughorn that I wanted to be an Auror and he gave me a sympathetic look and said I had a criminal record. He told me I wouldn't have any problem getting the grades, but then he brought up my record.'

'Yeah, and what did it say?' Harry asked, wringing his hands, he really wished people were more willing to give Draco a second chance.

Draco sighed deeply, that was the sigh of an old weathered man, not an 18 year old with his life ahead of him, 'I have a few charges, let's put it that way,' he pulled a sheet of paper from his bag and handed it to Harry. It was a copy of Draco's criminal record and it read:

_'_**CRIMINAL RECORD**

**NAME: **Draco Lucius Black (Malfoy during the time of these offences).

**GENDER: **Male.

**HOME ADDRESS: **Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, England.

**TERM ADDRESS: **Hogwarts Castle, Highlands, Scotland.

**PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS: **

**_Offence_:** Cursing a student by the name of Katie Bell and attempting her murder, and the attempted murder of Albus Dumbledore.** _Further details:_ **Miss. Bell was cursed by a necklace given to her by Mr. Black. It was meant to be for Albus Dumbledore. **_Punishment_:** none due to his being a student at the time and his running away once the truth was revealed. A later statement from Harry James Potter saved him from jail time.

**_Offence_:** The poisoning of Ronald Bilius Weasley and his attempted murder, and the attempted murder of Albus Dumbledore. **_Further Details_:** A bottle of poisoned mead was accidentally given to student Ronald Weasley, but was meant for Albus Dumbledore. **_Punishment_:** None, due to his being a student and the fact that he was found to be under the control of Lord Voldemort who was blackmailing and threatening the Malfoy family. This was backed up with a statement from Harry James Potter.

**_Offence:_** Aiding and abetting in the murder of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. **_Further details_:** allowed known Death Eaters into Hogwarts, giving access to the Headmaster. **_Punishment_:** a fine of 301 Galleons, 3 Sickles and 4 Knuts. 2 months house arrest.

**_Offence:_ **Known Death Eater. **_Evidence_:** a known dark mark and confession.** _Punishment:_ **a trial, however no jail time due to a statement from Harry James Potter.

**NOTES:**

In a statement to the Ministry after the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry James Potter told that Mr Draco Lucius Black had saved his life. Mr. Potter found himself caught by snatchers and in Mr. Black's home. Mr. Potter had a stinging charm on his face; Mr. Black recognised him but did not give him up to his Father, giving Mr. Potter time to escape.

Mr. Draco Lucius Black's Mother, Miss. Narcissa Black (Malfoy at the time of this occurrence) also saved Mr. Harry James Potter's life by telling Lord Voldemort that Mr. Potter was dead when he was alive. This gave Mr. Potter time and opportunity to escape.

These statements, combined with the memories provided to the Ministry in the statement from Mr. Harry James Potter, aided in the sentencing of Mr. Black after the Battle of Hogwarts. No charges were pressed due to the fee of 502 Galleons, 0 Sickles and 3 Knuts.'

Harry gulped as he finished reading the record, he handed it back over to Draco who was surveying him carefully for a reaction.

'Notice a recurring theme in my criminal record?' Draco asked, he sounded bitter and on the verge of an explosion of anger.

Harry opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again so Draco narrowed his eyes at his friend, 'your name appears on it quite a lot.'

'I suppose it does,' Harry said, trying to act casual about it.

'Harry, I can fight my own fucking battles,' Draco said angrily, he looked like he might pounce shortly.

'No you can't,' Harry shouted, just as fiery as Draco was, 'if I hadn't stepped in you would be rotting in Azkaban right now! Sometimes you need to learn to accept help!'

'Help!? That's what you call it?' Draco shook his head in disbelief, 'you paid 500 bloody Galleons to vouch for me! And you still hated me then, why would you do that?'

Harry growled as he pushed himself to his feet in his anger, Theo was eating popcorn and watching the fight with interest, 'I didn't hate you Draco! I felt sorry for you! I went through hell before I got to Hogwarts and if I hadn't had someone to save me I'd have been just like you! All I was doing was trying to fucking help you out!'

'So you're my Hero now?' Draco shouted as he got to his feet and grabbed his wand, Harry instinctively did the same. Theo shouted, 'fight, fight, fight!'

'SHUT UP THEO!' Harry and Draco yelled as they both shot a stunning charm in his direction.

'No Draco I'm not anyone's Hero, but will you not just accept that I helped you!'

'No! I didn't need your help, I've never needed your help and I don't want it to get into Auror training either!'

For some insane reason they then started duelling, maybe it was because they were both stressed out of their minds and they needed a way to get it all out there but spells shot back and forward between them for at least 10 minutes and they didn't say a word throughout the entire duel.

Eventually Draco stopped and Harry didn't fire a spell back at a man who had let his defences down, he wasn't that cruel with his friends.

'Finished being an idiot yet?' Harry asked, he was exhausted. Draco nodded and sheepishly made his way over to Harry who frowned suspiciously, 'you're not gonna kiss me, are you?' he asked as Draco hugged him. Harry was shocked to the say the least and he awkwardly patted Draco on the back.

'Sorry for being a twat,' Draco mumbled, and then with pink cheeks he made his way back to his armchair.

'Forgiven,' Harry said as he sat back down on the sofa next to the unconscious Theo, 'as long as you don't hug me again.'

'Deal,' Draco said and they sat in awkward silence for a moment.

'So you didn't get anywhere with the Auror thing with Slughorn then?' Harry asked eventually.

'What?' Draco asked, being brought to the real world, he then remembered what the conversation had originally been about, 'Oh, right,' he reached into his bag again and pulled out a large stack of papers.

Draco grinned broadly, 'he said I'd need 6 good references including a Ministry official and that I'd have to get, and I quote Slughorn here, my 'good friend Harry Potter to pull some strings' but he gave me the form.'

Harry grinned just as broadly as Draco and jumped up from his arm chair, as Draco jumped up too they shared a hug in the middle of the common room and immediately it felt awkward again.

'We need to stop with this hugging thing,' Harry said as he pulled back and avoided meeting Draco's eyes.

'Yeah, agreed,' Draco said as he stared at a piece of wall that was apparently extremely interesting. Then both of their eyes fell on Theo and the awkward air dissipated.

'Shall we have a celebratory drink?' Harry asked, as he conjured up some firewhiskey from his secret stash upstairs in his dorm room.

'I think we should,' Draco said with a smirk, 'do you think we should wake him?'

Harry grinned, 'Nah, sleeping beauty needs all the sleep he can get,' he teased as he poured out two shot glasses of whiskey.

'Cheers!' they both said as they downed the shots.

'To the future,' Harry said, as he poured out the second shot each.

Needless to say, they were both grateful that Slughorn was so amused at their turning up to Potions completely guttered, and that he had such a large and efficient supply of sober-up potions.

* * *

><p>As the month dragged on forms got sent away and replies slowly started to filter in. Lavender was amongst the many anxiously checking the post every morning for a letter. She'd applied for a position with the Daily Prophet, if she got it she'd have her own column, but she still had no idea what it would be about if she got an offer.<p>

It was the morning of Sadie's birthday and as it was a Wednesday Sadie had decided she didn't want a party per say, just a little get together and a few drinks in the common room later which would of course become a party, as it always did. Lavender was on her way up to the owlery to check for any packages she might have missed at breakfast, it was a pointless mission but she still did it every day.

When she reached the top of the stairs and checked the cubby-hole where her owl deposited parcels, it was empty, as it always was. Lavender sighed and was about to turn around to make her way back down to the main school before lunch when someone spoke to her, making her jump.

'I know your secret,' the voice said, and there was no mistaking that suave, smooth voice.

'What secret Blaise?' Lavender asked as she spun on her heel and saw Blaise lurking in the doorway of the room, 'and are you stalking me or something?'

'People choose what project to do for their N.E.W.T level potions project based on something that interests them, and something they have personal experience in,' Blaise said, pushing himself up so that he was standing straight, 'so why would you, a seemingly innocent little Gryffindor, be doing a project about the werewolf enzyme?'

Lavender made a face at Blaise, 'it's none of your business, now leave me alone,' she said as she started to make her way down the stairs. Blaise only followed her, 'I wonder if it has something to do with the werewolf that attacked you in the final battle.'

Lavender could have growled, Blaise got under her skin, 'Fuck off Blaise.'

'Tut, tut,' Blaise said, still in that smooth voice, 'shocking language for a lady.'

Lavender reached the bottom of the tower and spun on her heel, 'what do you want from me?' she hissed.

'Nothing,' Blaise said honestly as he leant casually against the doorway into the tower.

'I notice things Lavender,' Blaise said, watching Lavender carefully, they were now out in the cold as the owlery tower wasn't attached to the main school, 'like right now you're wearing a thin jumper and you aren't shivering, your cheeks aren't even pink.'

'I'm not cold,' Lavender said simply, fixing her gaze on him.

'I know,' Blaise said, still surveying her, 'neither I am,' he was only wearing a t-shirt.

'When you get angry Lavender your eyes flash yellow,' Blaise added, analysing her every move and trying to read her thoughts and emotions, 'and around the time of the full moon you get tired and pale.'

Lavender swallowed and it was the first visible sign of weakness or worry that Blaise had seen in her, she'd done well, to last that long without him calling it.

'I don't know what you are implying Blaise but if I were you I'd shut up right now,' Lavender hissed angrily and quietly, although she didn't know why because nobody was around for miles unless they were invisible.

'Of course you know what I'm implying Lavender,' Blaise said, his tone so even and unchanging, not giving anything away or showing any emotion, 'you're not a full wolf, you don't disappear, you just get weak, but there is definitely something wolf-ish about you.'

Lavender swallowed visibly once more.

'He bit you, didn't he?'

Lavender was startled by the sudden emotion in Blaise's voice; she detected anger, worry and a slight touch of bitterness.

'Why would I tell you anything?' Lavender asked, still trying to hide her emotions but not managing as well now as she had to begin with.

'Because I can help,' Blaise said simply, 'and because you need to tell someone.'

Lavender glanced around, trying to make sure that no one was around, but Blaise put her mind at rest, 'it's safe here, trust me.'

She didn't know why, but she did, Lavender felt like she could trust Blaise so with a sigh she looked down at the ground and said, 'yeah, he bit me.'

'Was it Greyback?'

Lavender only managed to nod at this, thinking about what happened still made her feel sick.

'Why aren't you a full wolf?' Blaise asked, still watching Lavender with a look in his eyes that she couldn't identify and that even scared her a little.

'Hermione killed Greyback before he could...finish,' Lavender said, the disgust on her face clearly showing her feelings towards the werewolf and the incident.

'So that's why your project is about the enzyme, you don't have enough of it in your blood to make you transform,' Blaise realised, and when he saw the look of shock on Lavender's face he added, 'sorry, I have good hearing, I overheard you telling the others about your project.'

'Oh,' Lavender said simply, at a loss for words, 'why do you care?'

'Because I'm in a similar situation,' Blaise said truthfully, catching Lavender's eye, 'my Father was a werewolf so I'm not as lucky as you, I'm a full wolf, I transform.'

Lavender's eyes widened and she couldn't speak for a few minutes, 'hasn't anyone noticed? Don't you disappear?'

Blaise replied, 'they don't notice, I'm stealthy, hardly anyone sees me most of the time.'

Lavender chuckled, 'I didn't know you existed until 6th year,' she admitted.

'Exactly,' Blaise said, giving Lavender a small smile, 'so when I disappear once a month it doesn't really go unnoticed.'

'Does your Mother know?' Lavender asked, biting her lip. Blaise nodded, 'I started to transform when I was 6 years old, so yes, she knows.'

'Mine doesn't, I can't bring myself to tell her, I haven't been able to talk about it with anyone.'

'Well, you can talk about it with me,' Blaise said, and again he gave Lavender a small smile, 'what do you have after lunch?' he asked.

Lavender replied, 'Potions,' as she and Blaise made their way down the stone stairs to the grounds.

'Do you wanna skip it and go to Hogsmeade?'

Lavender smiled, she didn't want to get anywhere near a romantic relationship at the moment, but from what she knew of Blaise he didn't do romance anyway, and at the moment she needed a friend like him so she nodded, 'sure.'

Blaise returned her smile and together they made their way to the village, there wasn't a moments silence during that short walk.

* * *

><p>Sadie Cauldwell had scanned the hall for an owl making its way to her at breakfast on her birthday. There had been a few, but none with the news she was waiting for and this made her sigh.<p>

Her Mother's large tawny owl swooped towards her and dropped a letter and a package; there was a birthday card and a present. Sadie pulled the brown packaging off and found a large white box sealed with a pink ribbon. She eagerly undid the ribbon and opened the box, she gasped, as did many of the other girls who were nosily peeking at her present. Inside was a beautiful hand-made silk dress, it was a very pale green and was absolutely beautiful. With it was a note from Sadie's Mother which read, '_Dear Sadie, I hope you'll wear this as your prom dress. It was mine when I was at Hogwarts and it was my hand-made by your Grandmother. Happy Birthday darling. All my love, Mother.'_

Sadie's little cousin Owen had shyly made his way over from the Hufflepuff table with a very sweet hand-made card that sang 'Happy Birthday' to Sadie who was both honoured and embarrassed. Theo had given Sadie her present at the breakfast table; he had given her a beautiful photo frame with a picture of them from Harry and Draco's New Year's party inside of it. The girls had combined money and given Sadie a jumper she'd seen while shopping in Diagon Alley and had wanted for months and the boys had joined forces and given Sadie a leather-bound diary. Truthfully she had felt very spoiled during breakfast, but she was still upset that the letter she'd been hoping for had not yet arrived.

The morning passed fairly uneventfully, apart from Trelawney getting the entire class to sing happy birthday to Sadie in Divination, and when lunch time came Sadie had another birthday surprise as an owl she didn't recognise swooped into the hall and dropped a letter on her lap.

Sadie looked at the parchment; it was dark brown, not like the light colour that they used here in the UK. She grinned when she saw the seal and she eagerly ripped the envelope open and pulled out the letter inside it. It was exactly what she was hoping for.

'_Dear Miss. Cauldwell,_

_We have reviewed your application and are pleased to inform you that you have a provisional place on the course of: __**Alchemical Studies**__, at the __**Centre for Alchemical Studies.**_

_To maintain this place you must receive the highest result (Outstanding) in the subjects listed below:_

_- Potions_

_- Herbology_

_- Transfiguration_

_- Arithmancy_

_You must also receive a high passing grade (Exceeds Expectations) in the subjects listed below:_

_- Charms_

_This course begins on the 1__st__ of August, 1999. You are expected to be in Cairo for this date and to be prepared with the list of textbooks attached with this letter. Accommodation will be provided for you in the city of Cairo and your campus will be:_

_**The Alexandria Library Campus**_

_We expect a reply by the 1__st__ of May._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Isis Remal_

_Head of the Centre for Alchemical Studies,_

_Cairo, Egypt.'_

Sadie was grinning from ear to ear and she jumped up and hugged Theo, 'I got in!' she squealed, 'I got in!'

Theo grinned happily and hugged his girlfriend back, 'Congratulations!' he said as he kissed her passionately in the middle of the great hall amidst many cheers.

It wasn't until they sat back down at the table that Theo caught sight of the letter for the first time and his heart sank, 'Sadie...it says you have to go to Cairo.'

'Yeah,' Sadie said, looking a little guilty, 'the centre is in Cairo.'

'You didn't tell me that,' Theo said quietly, although he knew Draco, Harry and Neville could hear every word; they were sitting very nearby, 'were you ever planning on telling me?'

'Of course I was Theo,' Sadie began to say, but Theo could tell straight away she was lying, 'you're lying Sadie,' he said quietly and without another word he got to his feet and left the hall. Sadie was left staring after him, her eyes beginning to fill up with tears.

Neville quietly and stealthily exited the hall after Theo and found him sitting on the floor in an alcove in the dungeons.

'You okay?' Neville asked as he cast a discreet muffliato charm and slid down onto the floor opposite his friend.

'Fine,' Theo lied, and Neville didn't call him on it or push him.

'She's going to Cairo Nev,' Theo said, he was angry and Neville didn't blame him after what Sadie had kept from him, 'fucking Cairo, in Egypt! And she didn't even tell me!'

'I know,' Neville said sympathetically, 'is she staying there?'

Theo nodded, suspiciously moving his sleeve over his face like he was crying, 'she has to stay in accommodation there.'

'What are you doing to do?' Neville asked, keeping it short and to the point, he knew that was the way to help Theo.

'I don't know, fall apart and turn into a bastard again,' Theo said and the sad thing was that he meant it, or at least thought he did.

'It's her birthday Theo,' Neville pointed out and Theo merely snorted, 'so I should pretend I don't care and be nice to her? Like that's going to help anyone.'

'I'm just saying, you should probably try and talk to her before you make any decisions,' Neville said and was surprised when Theo pulled a black velvet box from the pocket of his robes. Theo didn't seem to mind that Neville was watching him as he flicked the box open and looked at the gleaming ring inside.

'Wow,' Neville said as he stared at the ring, 'you went for that one in the end then.'

Theo nodded as he stared down at the ring, it was a twisted style and was half gold and half platinum with one diamond set in the middle, it was simple and classy which is exactly what Sadie would have wanted.

'I bought it after Hannah came and fetched you from the common room,' Theo admitted, not tearing his eyes away from the ring, 'I went back to Hogsmeade in the blizzard to get it. I was going to give it to her tonight, at the surprise party.'

'And you aren't going to anymore?' Neville asked, truly feeling dreadful for his friend.

Theo shook his head, and once again mysteriously rubbed his sleeve against his face, 'she'll think I'm doing it to stop her going to Cairo, and I'd never stop her getting what she wants. I just wish she wanted it with me.'

'Can't you work it out?' Neville asked with a frown, 'surely you can just apparate to Cairo and visit her?'

Theo sighed and shook his head, 'I wish it was that easy Nev. Cairo is a restricted zone, in fact Egypt as a whole is. You need a licence to apparate to restricted zones. I'd have one as an Auror but by the time my 3 year training is up Sadie will be graduating anyway.'

'So you're just going to give up on something that could have been amazing?'

'I don't know what I'm going to do,' Theo said and he stood up, closed the ring box with a loud snap and left the alcove.

* * *

><p>Theo and Sadie spent the rest of the day being miserable and avoiding each other, until dinner when they spoke for the first time.<p>

'I'm sorry about this morning,' Theo said quietly as he sat down next to Sadie. She shook her head, 'Don't be, I should have told when I first applied.'

'Why didn't you?' Theo asked, it was clear that he still felt hurt and betrayed.

Sadie sighed and bit her lip, 'I was afraid that you would do something stupid, like propose to me to get me to stay or something.'

Theo smirked, a shadow of his former self, 'Funny you should say that...'

Sadie looked up surprised, 'Theo you weren't actually going to be that cliché were you?'

Theo sniggered, 'No if I wanted to be cliché I would have proposed to you tonight at the surprise party that you've known about for the last week.'

Sadie grinned for the first time since lunch, 'Theodore Nott, are you proposing to me?'

Theo was shocked for a moment; he should have known his proposal to Sadie would have been on her terms instead of his. He eventually regained his composure, 'Well,' he said with a smirk, 'I suppose I better since I've mentioned it now. Do you fancy marrying me?'

Sadie's grin widened, 'where's the ring then?'

'What ring?' Theo asked, faking a look of shock. Sadie narrowed her eyes at him, 'you _are _joking, aren't you?'

Theo grinned and reached into the pocket of his robes, he pulled out the little velvet box and popped it open, showing her the ring. Sadie's jaw dropped and the others inched closer to get in on the action.

'Get on your knee then Nott!' Draco shouted from further along the table and Theo got down on one knee before Sadie.

'Sadie you know I'm not one for speeches...but, I love you. Go on, marry me, you know you want to,' Theo said, smirking up at the girl who rolled her eyes in amusement.

'I suppose you'll do,' Sadie teased and Theo slid the ring onto her finger, it fit perfectly.

At the head table McGonagall reached her hand out to Flitwick, 'you owe me 20 galleons I believe Filius.'

Neville smirked and hurried up to the head table which he then jumped on, putting his arse right in McGonagall's face.

'Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Teachers and terrors. I would like to congratulate Theodore _Roosevelt _Nott on the most original proposal, ever, to the soon to be Sadie Nott!'

'Actually Mr. Longbottom,' McGonagall said from behind Neville's rather large bottom, 'that is not entirely correct. I think you will find that Mr. Potter's parents did something similar around 20 years ago.'

'Brilliant!' Harry exclaimed down at the 8th year table.

Sadie and Theo had finally stopped kissing and it was as they broke for air that Sadie said with a grin, 'I was never planning on staying in Cairo Theo, I wanted to apply and then if I got in see if I could study from England.'

'Really?' Theo asked, his eyes were wide with surprise, 'you'd do that for me?'

'Of course I would!' Sadie said, smiling at him, 'you aren't getting rid of me that easily.'

'No,' Theo said with a grin, 'you're tied down to me now,' he said with a smirk.

'Not literally I hope,' Sadie said with a dirty smirk.

Theo only grinned even more, 'no, that's for later,' he winked at his girlfriend and then had to turn away to let Harry, Draco and Neville group hug him in what they called a manly bear hug of congratulations.

While this bromance was occurring Sadie had a very good opportunity to admire and show off her ring to the girls.

Sadie could safely say that she would always remember this birthday as the best day of her life. It was only then that a thought struck her.

'Theo...' Sadie said slowly, and Theo turned back to her, 'yeah?'

'You didn't propose to me on my birthday so you wouldn't forget our anniversary did you?' Sadie asked suspiciously.

'No...' Theo said, with slightly shifty eyes, 'of course not.'

Sadie narrowed her eyes at him and Theo said, 'oh by the way, the wedding is on my birthday, is that okay?'

Sadie could only chuckle and hit him around the back of the head affectionately. With the others not listening in for once Sadie said quietly and sincerely, 'I love you.'

Theo smiled, not a grin or a smirk for once, 'I love you too,' he said, just as sincerely as she had.

Yep, definitely the best birthday ever.

Shortly after this touching moment between the newly engaged couple, Harry got up onto the 8th year table, 'At the risk of being accused of copying my good friend Neville with all due warning to the Headmistress, I would like to announce to all 8th years,'

'Except for you Zacharias!' Draco shouted across the table.

'Oi, he's a git but he's got a stash of butterbeer!' Harry shouted back and Zacharias looked confused as to whether he was being insulted or not.

'As I was saying before the resident Slytherin wanker interrupted me, the "surprise" birthday party is now also an engagement party and starts in 15 minutes so all those invited eat up!'

'Can I come?' Ginny shouted from the Gryffindor table.

'Sure,' Harry replied, 'I know you know the password, I saw you sneaking out at 3am last night.'

Ginny only winked back, 'Bring Luna and Colin!' he shouted across the hall. He then turned to face the head table, 'Teachers are also invited! Charlie, bring Sinistra, she was good fun at the last one!'

Sinistra flushed pink and Charlie grinned. Harry continued, 'Minnie, the offer of a free Scottish firewhiskey is on the table!'

McGonagall actually smiled slightly, 'Mr. Potter, I may take you up on that offer. I am pleased to see you are becoming more like your Father every day.'

Harry bowed to the Headmistress and then to the school and jumped down from the table amidst cheers.

'You out-speeched me, you git,' Neville said with a mock glare as Harry sat down.

Harry smirked, 'I'm the boy-who-lived Nev, you can't beat me in a speech, or out-badass me, I heard about St. Mungo's. The prank war is on.'

'Oh, it's so on,' Neville said, with narrowed eyes.

'Oi you two! No pranks, I just got engaged!' Theo said from the sidelines.

After this exchange of words the 8th years hurriedly made their way back to the common room for the mother of all parties.

* * *

><p>The party was well underway when Harry and Daphne arrived with a few kegs of butterbeer they'd gotten from 'The Three Broomsticks'.<p>

'What took you so long?' Hermione teased, Daphne's hair wasn't quite as pristine as usual and Harry's robes were slightly askew.

Charlie, who really had joined the party, and really had brought Sinistra, smirked at Harry, 'I know what happens in that tunnel,' he said, winking at Sinistra who flushed embarrassedly.

'It had a lot of use when I was in 7th year,' Charlie said with a sigh, 'ah, good memories.'

'Oh hush Charlie,' Sinistra said good naturedly as the man grinned rather cockily.

'Good party by the way,' Charlie said to Harry who laughed, 'thanks, that's a compliment coming from you. I heard you were the king of drunken Hogwarts parties.'

Charlie laughed and said, 'where do you think Fred and George got it from?'

Harry smirked at this comment, 'Well I suppose in a way then this is your legacy, combined with the Marauders of course.'

Before anymore could be said the portrait hole swung open and none other than the Headmistress herself walked in. The amusing thing was the fact that almost everybody noticed but nobody stopped partying.

'I'll take you up on your offer Mr. Potter,' McGonagall said as Harry smirked and handed her a glass, 'here you go Professor, a wee dram as you'd say.'

The Headmistress accepted the drink and left shortly after saying congratulations to Sadie and Theo who pretty much hadn't stopped snogging since the party began.

The party progressed, getting gradually louder and more out of control, as all 8th year parties did. Several strange things happened throughout the course of the night, one of which was Filch staggering into the room shouting.

'STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED!'

Melody rolled her eyes at her Dad and hid her face in shame, Trelawney came staggering in after Filch and Melody actually hit her head against the nearest wall.

'Dad, shut up and have a drink,' Melody said, sounding exasperated.

'What a good idea,' Trelawney said as she pulled a bottle of sherry out of her shoe. Melody could have melted into the ground.

Not far behind Filch and Trelawney, Lockhart made his way into the common room. One thing that hadn't changed about the man was his dress sense as he was wearing bright yellow robes, 'I heard that there was a party,' he said as Melody grabbed him and snuck him past her Father upstairs to one of the dorm rooms.

Finally the noise of the party died down enough for the 8th years to hear the portrait of Snape talking to someone else outside the common room. As this was heard, a very drunk Theo managed to briefly untangle himself from an equally drunk Sadie for long enough to shout 'Oh for fuck sake, would you lot decide whether you're coming or going so the rest of us can get properly drunk!?'

The rest of the 8th years stopped what they were doing to see who the latest arrival to the party was only to be stunned as Kingsley Shacklebolt walked in. As he looked around at the group of very drunk students he said, 'Ah Minerva told me that I would find you all here and she might have mentioned the possibility of alcohol, but first things first. Harry and Neville, It gives me great pleasure to tell you that you have been accepted into the selection process for Auror training. Mr. Nott, thanks to your outstanding references you too have been accepted.'

Theo interrupted the Minister for Magic by standing up, wobbling slightly towards the man and shaking his hand. He then shouted 'WOOHOO! Thank you Minister, I hope you don't mind but now I'm going to celebrate with my beautiful fiancé.'

The Minister smiled, 'Of course not Mr. Nott, congratulations,' but Theo didn't hear most of this because as quickly as he could he had tangled himself in Sadie once more.

As the others were hearing their good news Draco was sinking lower into his armchair by the fire and Hermione was watching him with concern in her eyes.

Finally Kingsley turned to look at him, 'Mr. Black I am very sorry to inform you that despite your references and Mr. Potters best attempts to outsmart the system, which he thought he could do _without _me noticing,' Kinglsey smirked at Harry who chuckled, he knew he should have just gone straight to the Minister himself, 'you were not accepted by the Auror department,' Kingsley wasn't finished yet, 'however, as Minister for Magic I am pleased to inform you that you have now been accepted into the selection process, and I would like to personally thank you for saving both Harry's life, and Minerva's in the final battle. You may not like Gryffindors, but they are loyal and trustworthy.'

Draco was delighted and stunned as he realised he'd gotten past the background check stage and was now one step closer to becoming an Auror. As Draco thanked the Minster the rest of the 8th year applauded the 4 potential Aurors. Kingsley then looked around the room finally seeing what he was looking for, 'Weasley, during the war I successfully managed to drink both your older brother, Father and the twins under the table. Since the war I have added Percy to that collection, now it is your turn.'

At this the 8th years cheered once more as the Minister and the Care of Magical Creatures teacher got involved in a serious drinking competition.

'Oh and Miss. Bones,' Kingsley added, turning to Susan who quickly pulled away from Terry Boot and tried to look like she hadn't been doing anything promiscuous, 'you got accepted too, but I'm sure Mr. Weasley told you that already,' Kingsley smirked as Susan blushed slightly, or was she just flushed from whatever she'd being doing with Terry?

'Oh and Miss. Bones, when you see Percy, please do tell him not to sleep with the people he has bounties on. I'll see you in court on Friday to pay that fine,' Kingsley was still smirking as he sat down with Charlie to commence the drinking contest.

Susan was immediately pounced on.

'You slept with Percy?' Hermione asked in shock.

'My brother, Percy? _That _Percy?' Ginny asked in disbelief.

'Hey, they say look out for the quiet ones,' Lavender said with a grin.

'Oh, he's not quiet,' Susan said with a grin, 'he's pretty bad-ass and very loud,' she winked at the other girls.

'Susan! That's my _brother _you're talking about!' Ginny exclaimed, making a face of disgust.

'Ginny, if only you knew about my history with your brothers,' Susan said, sharing a smirk with Charlie that made Ginny's jaw drop even more. The Hufflepuff just went back to snogging Terry who didn't seem to care at all about the contents of the conversation he had overheard.

By 4am the party was over. The common room was wrecked and several students, and adults, were unconscious at various points in the room, including the Minister for Magic himself.

One thing was for sure, it had definitely been the mother of all parties, and tomorrow everybody would have the mother of all hangovers.

**TBC **


	48. What Goes Around Comes Back Around

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 48 – What Goes Around Comes Back Around**

After Sadie's birthday the replies began to reel in, and everyone had good news. On Thursday morning the mixed 7th and 8th year classes had been postponed until lunch time in honour of the happy couple. Harry had found out later from Hagrid that the same had happened after Sirius threw a huge party when James and Lily had got engaged. Luckily Slughorn was kind enough to give them hangover potions as an engagement present to Sadie and Theo, so by lunch time everyone was feeling back to normal.

Everybody tucked into a large, hearty brunch of eggs, bacon and sausages when the owls flew into the hall with letters for the people who hadn't been at breakfast. There was a lot of mail today, and many 8th years anxiously ripping into envelopes.

Harry was most concerned about the girls on either side of him, Daphne and Hermione both had a letter. He felt like a meerkat quickly looking from one to the other for any good, or bad, news.

'YES!' Daphne squealed happily, promptly throwing herself at Harry and snogging him, which he didn't complain about of course.

'You got in then?' Harry asked with a smile, and Daphne nodded, thrusting the letter into his hands.

'_Dear Miss. Greengrass,_

_Thank you for your application. We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted onto the course: __**Advanced Curse Breaking**__._

_The conditions of this offer are that you receive an O level grade in the subjects listed below:_

_- Ancient Runes._

_- Arithmancy._

_- Defence against the Dark Arts._

_A passing grade is also required for the subjects listed below (an E is preferred, but an A is acceptable):_

_- Charms._

_- Transfiguration._

_- Potions._

_A list of key textbooks and equipment is enclosed with this letter. _

_The course begins on the 9__th__ of August, 1999. Accommodation is available in London; however apparition points are available for those wishing to travel from home, as well as an efficient floo network. _

_You will attend an induction on Sunday the 1__st__ of August, 1999, to be introduced to your tutors and to key staff. This will be held at your campus of study:_

_Gringotts Training Headquarters,_

_The Tower of London,_

_London,_

_England._

_Note: Please use the secret entrance at the back of the tower to avoid being seen by suspicious tourists._

_We look forward to meeting you on the 1__st__ of August._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_William Weasley,_

_Head of Staff,_

_Gringotts Wizarding Bank.'_

Harry smirked at the fact the letter had been written by Bill, and also that Gringotts headquarters was in the tower of London.

'Congratulations!' He said happily to Daphne as he kissed her again.

He then turned to Hermione who was grinning broadly, 'So, you got in too then?' he asked.

'Judging by the kiss I just got, I think so,' Draco said from his spot on Hermione's other side; his cheeks were slightly pink, as were Hermione's.

'Oh hush,' Hermione said with a smile, 'Yep, see for yourself!'

Harry now found himself getting another letter thrust in his face,

'_Dear Miss. Granger,_

_We would like to thank you for your application. We are pleased to award you a conditional place on the training course: __**Magical Cooperation with Wizarding Creatures and Leading Wizarding Countries**__._

_A N.E.W.T is required in the subjects listed below (at grade E or O):_

_- Transfiguration._

_- Charms._

_- Ancient Runes._

_- Arithmancy._

_- Defence against the Dark Arts._

_An O.W.L is required in the subjects listed below (at grade O):_

_- Care of Magical Creatures._

_- Potions._

_- Herbology._

_We would like to invite you to a welcome day on Sunday the 1__st__ of April, 1999. This will provide you with the opportunity to meet your tutor and the head of staff. This will be held in the Department for Magical Co-operation in the Ministry of Magic. Please use the visitor's entrance._

_You will start your course on the 9__th__ of August, 1999. You are expected to be fully prepared with the textbooks and equipment listed on an enclosed piece of parchment._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Roger Smithton,_

_Head of the Department for Magical Cooperation,_

_The Ministry of Magic,_

_London.'_

'That's really great Hermione,' Harry said happily, he was extremely happy for his friends, everybody was getting good news. It was both exciting and scary, the prospect of life moving on in such a way.

Throughout the day Harry heard more good news, Lavender got the job as a columnist with the Daily Prophet. Luna and Colin had both got offers to go to Brazil, Luna to work with a sanctuary for rare magical creatures and Colin to do a photography course. Ginny had gotten a trial with the Holyhead Harpies and would get a place on the training team if she did well. Melody was going to America with Lockhart, they were both studying teacher training at the Salem Institute for Talented Students. Melody would be studying to teach Ghoul Studies & History of Magic, and Lockhart would be studying to teach Defence against the Dark Arts, properly this time.

In fact there was only one person who hadn't yet heard back and that was Hannah. She had applied to a training course at St Mungo's and medicine was one of the hardest fields to break into. Being Hannah, she was freaking out about this, and she was now certain that she wouldn't get in. Neville seemed pretty stressed about trying to reassure her that the letter probably hadn't been processed yet.

When Friday morning arrived luckily Hannah had a letter at breakfast which she forced Neville to open for her because she couldn't do it herself since she was so sure she hadn't gotten in. Neville rolled his eyes at Harry, Draco and Theo but opened the letter for Hannah and scanned it briefly, not giving anything away.

'What does it say?' Hannah asked nervously and Neville read aloud,

'_Dear Miss. Abbott,_

_I am pleased to inform you that you have been awarded a conditional place on the training course: __**Magical and Medical Sciences**__.'_

Hannah squealed happily and hugged Neville, 'yes! Thank you Neville! I got in, oh my god!'

Neville laughed at her enthusiasm and handed her the letter, 'the only conditions are that you've got to get an O in Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms and Ancient Runes.'

'Do you think I can do that?' Hannah asked nervously, she was intelligent but she knew she was by no means a straight O student. Neville smiled at her, 'of course you can,' he said and he truly believed that because he completely believed in his girlfriend.

* * *

><p>Lavender might not have gotten on particularly well with Isabelle and Tessie, but she still had to share a dorm with the two girls. She had a saving grace in Padma who was also in the dorm; Megan kept herself to herself these days after the Blaise situation.<p>

Lavender tended to try and do the same, she got on well with Padma and lately had even been talking to Parvati more and more, but when Tessie and Isabelle had Gabrielle in their dorm room Lavender didn't like to be out in the open.

On this occasion, it was Friday night and downstairs in the common room there was no party, everyone was partied out after Sadie and Theo's impromptu engagement party. Lavender's owl had just swooped in through the window with a letter for her, so she shut herself away in her four-poster; she sealed the curtains and put a muffliato charm on them so nobody would know she was in the dorm room, just in case Tessie and Isabelle came in.

The letter Lavender was reading was more like a note, and it was from Blaise, who she suspected was doing something similar to her in the boys' dormitory. The note was fairly simple, but it made Lavender smile.

'_Lavender,_

_The full moon is on the 29__th__ of March, it's a week on Monday. I looked into some of your research, you can be with me on the full moon, the wolf enzyme will kick in, and I'll recognise you as a friend, not a foe. Will you spend it with me? It gets lonely._

_If you agree, I'll meet you at 7pm in the grounds; you know the place, where we meet up? _

_Blaise.'_

Lavender looked down at the note for a moment, Blaise wrote very neatly for a guy, his letters and notes always seemed perfectly penned. Lavender had vowed to herself not to get into anything romantic with him, she knew he was bad news, but she needed him as a friend. So for now, that's what they were, Lavender didn't see it going any further, Blaise was too distant, he kept himself away from relationships. She had yet to figure out what the relationship with Tessie had been for, but she assumed he would tell her at some point.

Lavender's train of thought was interrupted by the door opening and three girls walking in, they were all giggling. Lavender rolled her eyes and sat back in her bed. Great, the three annoying girls had decided to come up from the common room.

'So what do you have to tell us Gabby?' A fairly high-pitched voice asked, that was Tessie.

'Yeah, Gabby, what was so important?' Another female voice asked, Isabelle.

'I've been saying forever that I need to think of a way to get Harry, right?' The third voice asked; that angelic voice with the slight French accent was Gabrielle.

'Yeah, but he seems pretty set on that Greengrass girl,' Isabelle said.

'I can see why, she's really pretty,' Tessie said, sounding jealous.

'But, not as pretty as me,' Gabrielle said, sounding full of herself.

'Right, of course not,' Isabelle said hastily, 'yeah Gabby, no one is prettier than you,' Tessie added quickly. Lavender rolled her eyes, she hated them so much.

'So what's your plan Gabby?' Tessie asked, her voice already beginning to give Lavender a headache.

'Well if he thinks I'm in a life-threatening situation he'll have to save me, right?' Gabrielle asked, from the tone of her voice Lavender assumed she had a smirk on her face.

'Right!' Tessie exclaimed, and Gabrielle continued, 'so if he finds me drowning in the lake tomorrow morning when he goes out on his Saturday morning jog, he'll have no choice but to save me. Understand?'

'Yeah, you're going to drown yourself tomorrow!'

'No Tessie you idiot,' Isabelle said nastily, 'she's going to pretend to drown, right Gabby?'

'Exactly,' Gabrielle said, she sounded rather scheming, 'I'll wait until just before his jog and then I'll jump in the lake and pretend I'm drowning. I'm taking gillyweed with me of course, just in case. Harry will pull me out of the water and kiss me to 'save me', then I'll have my charm on him properly and he won't be able to let me go.'

'Good idea,' Tessie said brightly, and Isabelle added, 'what if it doesn't work?'

'Of course it will work Isabelle!' Gabrielle snapped, 'just don't tell anyone, otherwise he'll find out.'

'Hey...what if someone does find out?' Tessie asked slowly.

'Who would find out?' Gabrielle snapped at the Gryffindor.

'Um, Lavender,' Tessie said, and she then pointed to Lavender's bed with the curtains drawn around it.

'She won't be telling anyone,' Gabrielle hissed, she cast a few charms that sealed Lavender into her bed and made it sound proof so she couldn't shout for help.

Lavender cursed loudly, she needed a way to warn Harry, but what was she going to do? She looked around frantically but all she could find was her DA coin. Some members wore them as necklaces, Harry might too. It was a long shot, but Lavender cast a spell on the coin that would make all of the others burn, she just hoped he got the message.

* * *

><p>When Harry woke up early on Saturday morning for his jog, he had a feeling that something was wrong. He faintly smelt burning coming from beneath his pillow and with a frown lifted it up to see that the DA coin had burned a small hole in the sheets. As Harry quietly dressed to avoid waking up Draco, or Daphne, he wondered why someone would activate the coin now; it must have been an accident.<p>

Harry quietly snuck from the room in his shorts and t-shirt. Once he was out of the common room and down the spiral staircase Harry began to slowly jog through the school, he said his usual hello's to the ghosts he passed along the way. When he reached the entrance hall Harry slowed to a walk and left the school into the bitter cold March morning air.

Not wanting to stand around in the cold Harry set off at a fairly fast jogging speed around the black lake, he passed Myrtle as usual as she floated on the waste pipe.

'Morning, Myrtle.'

'Morning, Harry.'

Harry finally stopped feeling the cold halfway around the lake when he started to sweat. He was so lost in his own world that it took him a moment to hear the shouts coming from the lake.

'Help!'

Harry frowned and stopped abruptly, he looked towards the lake and saw someone inside bobbing under the water and coming back up again to shout, 'HELP!' and wave their hands in the air.

Harry couldn't tell who it was but he wasted no time in diving into the icy cold lake and swimming to the centre to grab whoever it was that was drowning. How had they gotten to be in the lake this early on a Saturday morning in the first place?

Harry was shivering by the time he reached the centre, but he had enough strength to grab the person who he then realised was a girl, she was unconscious and he swam as fast as he could with the girl to the edge of the lake. When he eventually reached the shore he lay the girl down on the cold ground and took a moment to catch his breath.

It was only then that he realised that the girl he'd rescued was Gabrielle. It didn't cross Harry's mind that this was some kind of trickery, his mind just didn't think like that. Instantly Harry's basic medical training kicked in and he pressed down on Gabrielle's chest gently to expel any water from her lungs before leaning down and giving her CPR.

Gabrielle wasn't unconscious however, she was awake, and she had been waiting for Harry to do this. The moment his lips touched hers she pushed all of the Veela energy she could into him, she wanted to make sure she did it right this time, that he wouldn't get away from her.

It took a moment to take effect, but then something changed. Gabrielle opened her eyes and sat up, and Harry looked at her with lust in his eyes. He leaned forward and caught her lips, but this time in a passionate kiss. Gabrielle smirked to herself as the kiss heated up, she had him this time.

* * *

><p>Lavender's signal hadn't quite gotten through to Harry but when Parvati woke up in the morning to the faint smell of burning, she too looked for the cause of it. She searched through her trunk and found the coin inside a pair of old socks that were singed. Parvati frowned, trying to understand why the coin would burn; someone must have been sending a signal. She thought about the night before, everyone in the DA had been in the common room...everyone apart from...<p>

'Lavender!' Parvati realised with a gasp, she quietly got changed and hurried up to Lavender's dorm at the top of the tower. She didn't bother to knock as she quietly snuck into the room. The four-posters were drawn around all of the beds, apart from the one that belonged to Gabrielle. Parvati tip-toed over to Lavender's bed and tried to pull the curtains open, but a barrier stopped her and burned her hand. The noise Parvati made from the pain woke up Isabelle and Tessie.

'Don't try and help her!' Isabelle warned as she grabbed her wand, but Parvati was too fast, 'Stupefy!' she said, and in seconds Isabelle was down on the ground. Parvati turned her wand on Tessie, 'tell me what happened now Tessie.'

Tessie gulped, she couldn't quite reach her wand, 'Gabrielle locked her in there so she wouldn't tell Harry because Gabrielle is out in the grounds drowning so that Harry will save her and kiss her and then fall in love with her.'

Tessie said all of this very quickly and looked scared, which vaguely amused Parvati. All of the noise had awoken Padma who climbed out of her bed looking tired, 'what's happened?' she asked.

'Gabrielle locked Lavender in her bed,' Parvati replied to her twin, 'there's some kind of barrier stopping me from getting in.'

Padma yawned and lazily mumbled a spell, she wasn't even holding her wand but there was a crackling sound and a flash of orange around Lavender's bed. Parvati rushed over and pulled the curtains open. Lavender was sitting up in bed, fully dressed.

'Parvati! You got the signal! What time is it?'

'It's half past 6,' Parvati replied as Lavender grabbed her shoes and cloak.

'Oh no,' Lavender moaned, 'I have to get to the grounds; if Gabrielle kisses Harry she'll have him under her charm!'

'I'm coming with you,' Parvati said, and the two girls ran out of the tower and through the school. They eventually reached the grounds and both girls groaned when they saw Harry and Gabrielle sitting by the lake kissing.

'We're too late,' Parvati said, but Lavender rushed over to them and shouted, 'Harry! Stop! It's a trick!'

Harry pulled away from Gabrielle and looked up; Parvati chose that moment to stun Gabrielle.

'No! Why would you do that?' Harry asked angrily, raising his wand.

'STUPEFY!' Parvati and Lavender yelled at the same time, both of their spells hit Harry at the same time and he fell to the ground with a thump.

'We just knocked out the boy-who-lived,' Parvati said with a gasp, Lavender shrugged, 'he's better that way, it's going to be hard enough going cold turkey as her enzyme works its way through his system.'

Parvati nodded, and turned to Lavender, 'I'm glad you're okay, I was worried when I realised the signal was from you.'

'How did you realise?' Lavender asked as she transfigured some branches into two stretchers and levitated Harry onto one and Gabrielle onto the other.

'All of the DA members were in the common room last night when I figured the signal must have been sent, apart from you,' Parvati said simply and Lavender smiled at her, 'thanks,' she said as the two girls started to walk towards the hospital wing with the two stretchers following them.

Parvati simply shrugged, smiled and said, 'hey, that's what friends are for, right?'

Lavender positively beamed at this and hugged Parvati, 'I've missed you.'

'I've missed you too,' Parvati said honestly, 'I got so caught in Alfons after he proposed that I forgot about some of the more important things in life.'

The two girls shared another smile and spent the rest of the short walk to the hospital wing catching up.

* * *

><p>Daphne Greengrass didn't like seeing the man she loved in pain, and as she sat on an abandoned hospital wing bed she was wincing as she watched Harry. Next to her, Hermione had her arm wrapped tight around her shoulder, and on her other side Sadie was gripping her hand tight. Daphne had tears in her eyes.<p>

On a bed nearby Harry's body was struggling to get the enzyme out of his system. Madam Pomfrey had told them that Gabrielle had pumped far too much into him. Harry was shaking and shivering uncontrollably, he was unconscious and was convulsing, he was covered in sweat.

'I'm going to kill that bitch,' Daphne hissed as she watched her boyfriend going through hell.

'That would only get you dumped in Azkaban,' Sadie said gently from Daphne's side.

'She's going to get her comeuppance for this one Daph, don't worry,' Hermione said, just as angry and upset, she hated watching Harry in pain too.

'It's going to get worse before it gets any better,' Draco said miserably from where he was sitting cross-legged further up on the same bed, Theo was sitting next to him. On the bed next to theirs Neville, Hannah, Susan Lavender and Parvati were sitting, looking as glum.

'What do you mean?' Daphne asked quietly, not sounding at all like herself,

'He'll wake up soon,' Neville said with a deep sigh, 'and he'll probably hallucinate.'

'How long is this going to last?' Daphne asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

'Another hour or so probably,' Hannah replied, and then there was silence once more.

Gabrielle was lying on another bed, she was covered by a screen, probably so the others couldn't kill or curse her, because they all wanted too.

'I don't know why she was so obsessed with him,' Sadie said sadly, her eyes fixed on Harry.

'Because she's a crazy bitch,' Theo said simply, there was a general nod of agreement.

Then Harry woke up, and like Draco and Neville had predicated it did get worse after that.

As well as convulsing and sweating Harry started vomiting and talking nonsense, it was like he was stuck in the war.

'No, don't kill him, no CEDRIC NO!' Harry would scream one minute and then he would be silent before starting to say, 'He's back, he is back, he is, I saw him, I'M NOT LYING!'

Daphne found it painful to watch, they all did. Even Draco had to look away, he saw Harry as strong all of the time and seeing him this weak was difficult.

The ramblings progressed to hallucinations, it was clear that he was still in the war in his head. Daphne saw a side of him she hadn't known, one she didn't ever want to see again.

'NO! She's a snake, Hermione! She's a snake!' Harry would shout and he would flinch as if he was being chased or bitten. Only Hermione understood the nature of most of the hallucinations, but she didn't know what she could do to help.

'He's in my head; get out of my head, NO! I don't want to join you, I'm not like you, I'LL NEVER BE LIKE YOU! YOU KILLED MY PARENTS!'

Hermione sighed and bit her lip as she cried, just like Daphne, 'it's Voldemort, he's seeing Voldemort.'

'What does he mean?' Daphne asked tearfully.

'Voldemort taunted him,' Neville said quietly, a pained look in his eyes, 'by saying that they were similar and that Harry should join him.'

'The horcrux in Harry gave them a connection,' Hermione added, 'and it meant that Voldemort could get inside his head.'

Draco shivered violently, 'He never told me, and I thought I had it bad.'

Harry had momentarily been silent but then the hallucinations began to get worse again.

'NO! HERMIONE!'

It wasn't the first time Hermione's name had come up, but it was the first time that Harry had screamed it.

'DON'T TOUCH HER! LEAVE HER ALONE! HERMIONE!'

Hermione burst into tears and jumped down from the bed, she hurried over to Harry and placed her hand in his.

'Harry, I'm here, Harry!'

This seemed to get through to him a little as he stopped convulsing so violently.

'Torturing you, no, no,' Harry mumbled and Hermione spoke gently, 'I'm fine Harry, I'm okay.'

'Ron,' Harry mumbled, he started to writhe in the hospital bed, 'he's back, you...back, Ron.'

Hermione couldn't understand what Harry was saying so she just stayed quiet and kept her hand in his.

'He loves you,' Harry mumbled, 'you love Ron; you love him, not me.'

Hermione realised what was happening, in his head Harry was reliving a conversation that had happened between them after the altercation at Malfoy Manor. When it had originally happened they had being sitting outside on the beach at Shell Cottage.

'Harry-' Hermione tried to say gently, but it was too late, he began to get worse again.

'You lied Hermione! YOU WANT RON!' Harry was writhing once more, 'what about me? US!'

'Harry,' Hermione said quietly, but it didn't work, 'Harry!' she said more forcefully and he stopped writhing.

'I love you Harry, okay?'

Harry was silent, and he stopped moving, there was a tense pause and then a small nod.

'Now go to sleep Harry, focus on waking up and being okay. Alright?' Hermione asked, shaking from the encounter and still crying.

'Okay Mione,' Harry mumbled and his hand slipped out of hers. Hermione took a moment to catch her breath and turned around to shocked stares from all of her friends.

She traipsed across the hospital wing to the two beds they were all sitting on and said, 'he's past the worst of it, he just needs to sleep it off now.'

Hermione pushed herself up onto the bed where she was still getting stared at by Daphne, and the others.

'What was that about?' Draco asked in a quiet voice from behind her. Hermione had been expecting the question the moment she realised that everybody had been listening to her 'conversation' with Harry. She lifted her arm and wiped her tears with the sleeve of her cloak and sighed.

'That was Harry reliving a memory I don't really like to think about,' Hermione said honestly with a deep frown.

'You said that you loved him,' Daphne said, she still had tear tracks on her face but she was no longer crying.

Hermione nodded and started to cry again, 'that didn't happen at the time, but he wanted it too,' she took a deep breath, 'I was tortured at Malfoy Manor, shortly before that Ron had come back after leaving Harry and I on the road on our own. Harry and I had a...well I wouldn't call it a relationship, but it meant more to him than me.'

'And he asked you if you loved him or Ron,' Susan realised, Hermione nodded but said no more and Susan spoke for her, 'you told him you loved Ron, and he felt used?'

Hermione nodded, Susan had guessed right, 'I didn't think we'd salvage our friendship after that, but we did, and I didn't ever want to have to relive that moment.'

'So you don't love him?' Daphne asked, looking at Hermione sadly, 'because if you do Hermione tell me now, please.'

'I do love him Daph, but I love him as a friend, not romantically, I promise,' Hermione said entirely truthfully, she shook her head, 'when two people are alone and lonely for as long as we were, they seek something in each other. Things are different now.'

'Good,' Draco said from behind Hermione as he wrapped his arms around her stomach and she leaned back against his chest.

The next half an hour passed peacefully and quietly as the group waited for Harry to wake up. When he did start to stir everybody watched as Daphne hurried over to her boyfriend and sat down by his bed, she instinctively placed her hand in his.

'Daph,' Harry croaked weakly when he woke up. Daphne handed Harry a glass of water and helped him drink from it.

'Hey,' she said quietly.

'Hey,' Harry said, not sounding quite so rough now, 'what happened? I feel like shit.'

'You were drugged, kind of,' Daphne said, holding his hand tightly, 'Gabrielle tricked you into kissing her and then pumped a massive amount of Veela enzyme into you. You just went through hell, do you remember it?'

Harry shook his head and examined her face, 'have you been crying?'

Daphne nodded, wiping the last of the tears from her cheeks, 'you were a wreck Harry, I never want to see you like that again.'

Harry winced as she tried to move, 'I'm in agony,' he said, 'I never want to go through that again.'

'Good,' Daphne said, smiling because he was alive and he was okay.

'Daph, promise me something,' Harry said, he was completely serious as he captured her blue eyes with his tired green ones, 'promise me you'll marry me someday.'

Daphne chuckled and looked into his eyes, she rarely saw them so serious, 'if you ask, then sure,' she said with a smile.

Harry smiled back and his eyes lit up, 'good,' he said as he shut his eyes and winced.

'What's happening to Gabrielle?' Harry asked, opening his eyes and scanning the hospital.

'She's getting punished, McGonagall said she was waiting for you to wake up so you could see it,' Daphne told Harry with a slightly evil smirk.

Harry grinned at this and as McGonagall entered the hospital wing he caught sight of all of his friends sitting on the hospital beds opposite of his, 'you all came?'

Daphne turned and smiled at the others, she turned back to Harry and nodded, 'we were here through it all, some more than others.'

'What do you mean?' Harry asked with a confused frown.

'Hermione was by your side when you were hallucinating about the war,' Daphne said simply, she didn't want to elaborate; Hermione could tell Harry if she wanted, but if Harry didn't remember it wasn't Daphne's place to make him.

'Oh,' Harry realised, 'I'll have to thank her later,' he winced again and watched as McGonagall approached his bed, 'I thought you might like to see this Mr. Potter,' she said as she walked over to the bed next to his and pulled the screen away.

Gabrielle was sitting up in the bed, she looked extremely anxious.

'Miss. Delacour,' McGonagall said, her lips were a tight line as they were when she was angry, 'you behaved like a child today and you are very lucky not to be expelled. You could have killed Mr. Potter.'

Gabrielle ducked her head in shame and McGonagall continued, 'unfortunately I see no point in expelling you with only a few months of school left,' she said, sounding disappointed about this, 'so all I can do is punish you. Do you understand?'

Gabrielle nodded and McGonagall informed her of her punishment, 'I shall be writing a letter to your parents, and you are to serve a detention.'

'I understand Headmistress,' Gabrielle said quietly and miserably, she hadn't even looked up yet.

'Your detention is to clean the 2nd floor girl's bathroom by hand, with no magic. I think it's only fair that Mr. Potter gets to supervise your detention since you nearly killed him today.'

Gabrielle merely nodded again and McGonagall tried very hard not to smile at the laughter coming from Harry and all of his 'entourage', it was about time that the girl got what she deserved. What goes around does come around after all.

As McGonagall walked past the bed opposite Harry's she said quietly, 'Miss. Granger, have a word with Myrtle please, tell her that her bathrooms needs flooding on the day of Gabrielle's detention.'

'And when would that be Professor?' Hermione asked with a grin, McGonagall quietly replied, 'tomorrow.'

As the Headmistress left the hospital wing the screen was drawn around Gabrielle's bed again and the others continued to chuckle at her punishment. Hopefully she'd stop being so obsessed over Harry now.

'I'm glad you're okay,' Daphne said quietly to Harry as she leant down and kissed him lightly on the lips.

'Me too,' Harry said as he lay back and sighed, 'ah, sweet revenge. I can't wait for tomorrow.'

The others couldn't have agreed more.

* * *

><p>When Harry woke up on Sunday morning he felt much better thanks to Madam Pomfreys excellent skills. He still felt a little tender, but was allowed out of the hospital wing to supervise Gabrielle's punishment under the condition that he came back and spent the rest of Sunday in the hospital wing just in case.<p>

So at 11am on Sunday morning Harry found himself in an amusing situation. He had brought the others along to Myrtles bathroom and they were sitting inside an impenetrable bubble that was floating around the room. Gabrielle was miserably trying to clean every surface with just a sponge.

'Ah, this is the life,' Harry said to the others as he leant back against the cushiony wall of the bubble, he winced as he stretched a little too far.

'Harry!' Daphne and Hermione scolded at the same time, making Draco and Theo snigger.

'Sorry,' Harry said as he rolled his eyes.

'You've got to be careful ickle Harrykins,' Draco teased, 'you don't want to hurt yourself now, do you?'

Theo sniggered some more and Sadie, Susan and Hannah chuckled at the scene unfolding in front of them.

Harry shot a glare at his friend, 'shut up Draco or I'll make you clean the bathroom with her,' he said, as he glanced back down at Gabrielle who had just finished cleaning the bathroom after 2 hours work.

The place was gleaming and sparkling...but not for long.

Myrtle had been moping around with a slightly evil smile on her face and when she got the go ahead from Hermione she decided to choose that moment to dive into her toilet, and the toilet next to hers, and the one next to that. In 5 minutes the bathroom was entirely flooded and Gabrielle was soaking wet. The French girl promptly burst into tears.

'I feel a little sorry for her,' Hermione admitted looking guilty.

'I don't,' Daphne said as she shouted down to the girl, 'guess you'll have to start again, and just remember, this is why you don't try and steal my man!'

Harry grinned at this, 'your man? I like it; you should call me that more often.'

Daphne rolled her eyes affectionately at him, 'Maybe I will, but first you've got to stop being so bloody desirable to all these girls.'

'Desirable? Him? You must be joking,' Draco said with a smirk.

'Potter, desirable, good one Daph,' Theo added making a face of disgust.

Harry only rolled his eyes at the two of them, but before any more could be said Peeves banged into the bathroom knocking things over and smashing them as he did. Gabrielle continued to wail.

As Peeves started snogging Myrtle and the two spirits disappeared into Myrtles toilet together Harry made a face, 'that's our cue to go,' he said, lifting his wand and directing the bubble towards the door. Once out of the bathroom and the protective bubble Harry winced as he limped towards the hospital wing on the floor below.

'Draco, you should carry me, I'm so weak,' Harry said sarcastically, he got a 'pfft, you can walk Potter.'

Harry chuckled at this response; it was what he'd been expecting. Regardless of any teasing Draco and Neville moved to either side of him and helped him walk along the corridor, which was also slightly flooded.

He'd pondered on it the moment he saw them all sitting in the hospital wing when he woke up, but he'd only really had time to think about it later. Harry was grateful to have such great friends, and he knew when he became an Auror any one of them would make a perfect partner.

**TBC **


	49. This Path is Treacherous & Reckless

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 49 – This Path is Treacherous & Reckless**

Harry spent the rest of Sunday in the hospital wing with Daphne constantly by his side. The others popped in and out to wish him well, or insult him in Theo's case, throughout the day.

He was glad to hear that he'd made a full recovery from something that very easily could have killed him. Daphne had remarked that of course he had, it was his thing. Harry had a reason for wanting a quick recovery, and that was that on Monday 'career week' started. This was a week in which the 7th and 8th years spent Monday through to Friday in a work place to prepare themselves for the outside world.

It was a good idea, and it was the reason for their career meetings with McGonagall. She took their interests into account and allocated them a place of work, however they didn't find out what those would be until the night before.

So, here was Harry practically begging with Madame Pomfrey to let him out of the hospital wing early so he could get to the common room in time for the announcement.

'Mr. Potter, you have a busy week ahead of you,' Pomfrey was arguing, her lips set in a tight line just like McGonagall's, 'you need as much rest as possible.'

'What if he promises to spend tonight resting?' Daphne asked quickly, hoping she could help, 'I'll make sure he goes straight to bed and stays there after the announcement.'

Pomfrey narrowed her eyes at the couple as they practically pouted, eventually she gave in, 'Very well, you are free to leave Mr. Potter.'

Harry grinned and quickly changed clothes, he jumped down from the bed and grabbed Daphne's hand, 'I'm free,' he said happily as they left the hospital wing.

Daphne chuckled and said, 'you know, I was thinking about something last night.'

'What was that?' Harry asked as he pulled her into a secret passage from the 1st floor to the 5th.

'At the start of the year Trelawney made a prediction,' Daphne remembered, looking thoughtful, 'she said one would leave and Weasley did, then she said one would join us and Gabrielle did. The last part of her prediction was that someone would be injured in March, and what month is it?'

'March,' Harry mumbled as he smiled slightly, 'yeah you're right, I guess she was right. I'm just glad she didn't do her usual someone will die prediction,' he joked with a laugh, but Daphne's face darkened.

'Two people from that class died,' Daphne said quietly, and her thoughts were with Tracey and Dean.

'Daph, I'm sorry,' Harry said quickly, feeling guilty, 'I didn't mean it like that.'

Daphne nodded and shook her head, as if trying to shake thoughts from her mind, 'I know you didn't,' she said as they emerged from the secret passage and started to make their way up the grand staircase to the entrance to the 8th year tower.

They walked in comfortable silence until they reached the common room.

Inside everyone was sitting or standing around waiting anxiously for McGonagall to arrive with their placements.

'Harry, you're back!' Hermione said, as she hugged him.

Harry smiled, 'and good as new,' he said, after all he did feel fine.

No more could be said on the matter because McGonagall chose that moment to walk into the room with a large scroll of parchment.

'Silence please,' she said curtly, 'I will announce the career placements in alphabetical order,' McGonagall said, and she looked down at her list.

Everyone was waiting with baited breath.

'Abbott, Hannah. St. Mungo's as a shadow to a healer.'

Hannah grinned happily, exactly what she'd wanted.

'Black, Draco. Placement in the Auror department.'

Draco couldn't help the huge grin that spread across his face at this, it would give him a chance to prove himself before the real thing began.

'Bones, Susan. Placement in the Auror department working on a bounty hunting team with Percy Weasley.'

Susan smirked at this and next to her Hermione rolled her eyes. From what she knew of the situation Susan was getting closer to Percy. Hermione hoped it went well, after what happened with Krum, she wanted her friend to be happy.

'Boot, Terry. Placement in the Department of Mysteries.'

'Nice one,' Terry said with a smug look towards his envious Ravenclaws.

'Brocklehurst, Mandy. Placement in the Department of Magical Transportation.'

Mandy seemed pleased with this, although to Harry it sounded extremely boring.

'Brown, Lavender. Placement under the direction of Rita Skeeter at the Daily Prophet.'

Lavender grinned broadly at this and Blaise smiled proudly from next to her.

'Cauldwell, Sadie. Placement as an assistant in the Apothecary in Diagon Alley.'

Sadie grinned at Theo, it was exactly what she had wanted, after all it was her goal in life to own an apothecary.

'Chambers, Isabelle. Placement as a secretary for Witch Weekly.'

Isabelle gushed happily about this to Tessie. Gabrielle watched on quietly from the sidelines, since her failed plan to woo Harry the girls had pretty much deserted her. As a Veela Gabrielle got better looking the more she was adored and now, she looked ordinary. Her white blonde hair was really more like a dirty blonde when she wasn't admired, her face and skin wasn't as flawless as it had first appeared and her blue eyes weren't quite so radiant, it was all an illusion. Harry had to admit, he did feel slightly sorry for her, as well as a cruel detention she now had no friends, but she had brought it all upon herself.

'Corner, Michael. Placement within the Department of Magical Games and Sports.'

Michael seemed pleased with this, it was what he wanted to do, and why he and Ginny got on so well, the Quidditch link was important to them.

'Delacour, Gabrielle. You _were_ assigned to work in a wizarding fashion boutique, however in light of your recent behaviour; you are now serving a placement with the Magical Maintenance Department at the Ministry of Magic.'

Gabrielle looked miserable about this, but at least nobody laughed at her, apart from Isabelle and Tessie who shut up when they realised nobody else was laughing. Harry sighed and shot a sideways glance at Daphne, he felt incredibly guilty.

'Finch-Fletchley, Justin. Placement within the Accounting Department at the Ministry of Magic.'

Justin didn't seem bothered by this, he merely shrugged. Harry was sure he'd overheard the Hufflepuff telling Hannah that he wanted to open a wizarding hair salon in Diagon Alley.

'Finnigan, Seamus. Placement within the Department for Experimental Charms.'

Seamus smirked at this, Harry was cautious since what had happened with Lavender, but he didn't seem to be any worse.

'Granger, Hermione. Placement within the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.'

Hermione seemed fairly happy with this, but Harry was under the impression that she had her heart set on becoming a wizarding diplomat, unfortunately there wasn't exactly a work placement for that.

'Greengrass, Daphne. Placement as secretary to the head of staff at Gringotts.'

Daphne made a face, Harry smirked as he imagined his girlfriend having to cater for Bill for a week, he had a feeling that the Weasley would use it to his advantage. It gave Daphne some experience though because she couldn't work as a curse breaker in any way, shape or form until she got her N.E.W.T results. It was too easy for something to go wrong.

'Jones, Megan. Placement at 'The Wizarding Flower Shop' in Diagon Alley.'

Megan seemed happy about this prospect and Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry, neither of them could understand how someone could be excited about something like that, but he supposed it was personal preference.

'Longbottom, Neville. Placement in the Auror Department.'

Neville grinned and hi-fived Draco.

'MacMillan, Ernie. Placement within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.'

Harry sniggered; Ernie would be a good lawyer.

'Norris-Filch, Melody. Placement shadowing me during my classes,' McGonagall looked up and added, 'we couldn't find anything else due to it being so short notice.'

Melody only smiled at the Headmistress, 'That's fine Professor.'

'Nott, Theodore. Placement in the Auror Department.'

'Awesome,' Theo said, as he hi-fived Neville and then Draco. Harry rolled his eyes in amusement at the exchange.

'Patil, Padma. Placement within the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.'

Padma smiled at her sister who was next up on the list.

'Patil, Parvati. Assistant to the Minister for Magic's Office.'

Parvati didn't really know what she wanted to do yet, so she was pleased with her placement.

Finally McGonagall had gotten to Harry; he hated the fact that it took so long to get to his name on any kind of list like this. It had been the same when he got sorted.

'Potter, Harry. You may have already guessed this, but you are also serving a placement in the Auror Department.'

Harry grinned at the others and they shared hi-fives. Before McGonagall continued with her list she added, '_however_, you will be working on different teams, with different Aurors.'

The guys looked slightly disappointed, but at the end of the day they were still working in the same department and it was only for a week. McGonagall continued down the list.

'Pritchard, Tessie. A placement within a Wizarding Boutique in Diagon Alley.'

Tessie gushed excitedly about this to Isabelle while Daphne and Hermione shared exasperated looks.

'Smith, Zacharias. Placement as an assistant to the head of the Wizengamot.'

Zacharias actually punched the air at this leading to much eye-rolling and head shaking around the common room.

'Zabini, Blaise. Placement within the Ministry of Magic Research Committee.'

McGonagall rolled up her scroll of parchment and clicked her fingers, a stack of paper appeared on the table in the centre of the room, 'Take the papers with your name on them and read them carefully, they will provide you with the information you will need for the next week. I want to see you all at 6am sharp in the great hall tomorrow morning.'

On that note McGonagall left the common room and everybody excitedly headed to bed, both anxious about the day ahead, but also looking forward to it.

* * *

><p>When Harry, Draco, Neville and Theo turned up on Monday morning for their first day 'on the job' as Aurors, kind of, only Draco was nervous. Harry, Theo and Neville had spent the walk through the Ministry chatting animatedly, but Draco had remained fairly quiet.<p>

The boys were now sitting in the corridor outside the department waiting to meet the Aurors who they were going to be working with for the week. It was then they heard an argument coming from the from behind them.

'Right, settle down all of you! The newbie's from Hogwarts are here again, we've got 5 this time so we're gonna need to split them up.' A brisk male voice said from inside the room.

'Five? Their keen this year given that they just went through a war,' a younger male voice said.

'Yes, well we can't complain,' the brisk voice said, he sounded older than the other man, 'Riley is leaving after this year and I'm retiring, we need as much new talent as we can get.'

'Are there any competent ones or are they all wannabes?' Another voice asked with a yawn, this voice was female.

'They are competent Clark, I'll give you a decent one this year don't worry,' the older man said and Harry only realised then that it was Dawlish.

'Bones has been taken,' Dawlish said casually, 'Percy asked specifically for her.'

'Why am I not surprised?' the younger man asked, his voice laced with amusement, 'who else do we have?'

'Potter, Harry Potter,' Dawlish said.

'THE Harry Potter?'

There was a lot of noise and bickering in the room which made Harry roll his eyes outside.

'Quiet!' Dawlish said loudly, 'I'm Head Auror, Potter will be working with me. We've also got Longbottom, who wants him?'

Neville chuckled and shared a look of amusement with Harry as more bickering arose over who would get to partner Neville.

'Alright Clark you can have Longbottom since the last one nearly blew your foot off, but no funny business,' Dawlish said and got a sarcastic reply from Clark, 'yes sir.'

'Who else we got?' the younger man asked and Dawlish paused before saying, 'Uh, Black.'

'Black? Who's that?' Another male voice asked, this voice was new and sounded much older.

'Draco, formerly Malfoy,' Dawlish said and Draco winced as he waited for the insults.

'A Malfoy?' the older male voice sneered, 'what is he doing here?'

'He's been vouched for by the chosen one himself and the Minister for Magic, give it a rest Riley,' Dawlish said lazily, 'he's a damn good duellist, who wants him?'

'I'll take him, I could use a good duellist,' the oldest man, Riley, said, 'I'll take Black.'

'Good, well that leaves...Nott.'

Theo rolled his eyes at his friends and asked quietly, 'why am I always last with you lot?'

Draco gave his friend a weak smile, and Harry and Neville chuckled.

'Nott? Why do I recognise that name?' Riley asked slowly.

'His Father was Alfred Nott, he was a high end businessman back in his day,' Dawlish said, 'and we arrested him a few times for sleeping with prostitutes.'

'Alfred Nott!' Riley said angrily, 'he slept with my wife!'

'Well be grateful I didn't assign you his kid, who wants him?'

'I'll take Nott,' the youngest voice said and Dawlish then spoke again, 'alright then, let's get them in here.'

The boys tried to look like they hadn't heard the entire conversation as Dawlish entered the hallway and smiled at them, 'Hi there boys, do come in.'

Harry, Draco, Neville and Theo made their way into the room where they saw the people whose voices they had heard.

'Potter, I'm John Dawlish, you're with me this week,' Dawlish said as he shook Harry's hand.

Harry smiled, 'Nice to see you again,' he said simply.

Dawlish nodded and turned to Neville, 'Longbottom, you'll be partnering Clark over here.'

A young woman jumped down from the table she was sitting on. She looked to be only a few years older than them, maybe around the same age as Tonks had been. She was fairly short for an Auror and had shoulder length straight blonde hair, she looked fairly bubbly.

'Emily Clark,' the Auror said with a smile as she held out her hand. Neville took it and shook it, 'Neville Longbottom.'

'Black, you're with old man Riley,' Dawlish said, pointing Draco in the direction of a man who looked around 60 years old.

Riley nodded, 'Jackson Riley,' he said as he shook Draco's hand. Draco was still extremely nervous, 'Draco Black,' he said and let the older man examine him suspiciously.

'I hear you're a good duellist,' Riley said and Draco nodded, 'so they tell me,' he said.

'Finally, Nott, you will be working with our newest recruit,' Dawlish said as he pointed Theo in the direction of the only Auror whose name they hadn't heard during the conversation. This Auror looked around the same age as the woman, Emily. He had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes and looked vaguely familiar to Theo although he didn't know how.

The man stepped forward and looked at Theo closely, 'Sorenson Cauldwell,' he said as he reached out his hand. Theo shook the man's hand, but was a little shocked.

'Cauldwell? You aren't Sadie's big brother, are you?' Theo asked, hoping that this man he was assigned to working with for a week wasn't his girlfriend's big brother.

Sorenson smirked and said, 'yes I am, what are you doing with my sister Nott?'

'Apart from marrying her you mean?' Harry asked jokingly from his spot next to Dawlish.

'I heard about that,' Sorenson said with narrowed eyes, 'I'll be watching you this week Nott, you got that?'

Theo didn't often feel intimidated but Sadie's brother was built like a tank, he was bulky and rather scary looking and Theo knew that he was pretty much a scrawny weed compared to that. He nodded, 'got it,' he said weakly. The others were vaguely amused at this version of Theo when they were used to the cocky, arrogant Slytherin.

'Well then, let's get you started,' Dawlish said clapping his hands together.

And so it began.

* * *

><p>It was Wednesday afternoon and the Leaky Cauldron was fairly quiet. At a table in the middle of the room Hermione, Daphne, Sadie and Hannah had met up for lunch for the first time since career week had started on Monday.<p>

'So, how is it going?' Sadie asked the group cheerfully as their drinks arrived.

'Its hell,' Hermione said with a groan, 'my supervisor is such a bitch!' Daphne and Hannah shared an amused smile as Hermione got started on one of her rants, 'she just makes me sit and do paperwork all day and then when I finally got to go out and do some practical work this morning she told me I was useless and that I would be spending the rest of the week doing paperwork.'

'Why? What happened?' Hannah asked her friend, Hermione didn't get riled up this often.

'There was an incident between a house elf and a wizard so she sent me to deal with it but she was supervising obviously. I tried to be nice to the elf to calm it down so it would speak because the wizard was hitting it and shouting at it,' Hermione rolled her eyes in annoyance, 'so she told me I was being too soft and that beating the elf was the right way to handle the situation. She said I would never be able to work with creatures!'

'That's bullshit,' Daphne said casually, trying to calm Hermione down, 'a calmer approach means you can get the full story from the creatures side, it's especially important with house-elves. That's something the civilised people in Magical Cooperation would tell you and that's where you'll be doing your training after Hogwarts.'

Sadie nodded her agreement with Daphne, 'the people who work in the department you're in now are brutes Hermione, they are prejudiced people like Umbridge who want to see creatures downgraded.'

'MacNair worked in that department,' Hannah pointed out, 'and he was a death eater, it's not the place you belong in.'

'So you think I should just suck it up for the next few days and get on with it,' Hermione realised as she sipped from her drink, 'I can't wait for Friday.'

Daphne smiled sympathetically at her, 'well my week is going about as badly as yours to be honest,' she admitted, 'I'm not getting to do anything apart from paperwork like you Hermione. Bills alright although he does make me bring him coffee and breakfast,' she shook her head, 'it's the goblins that I can't stand, they're all so small and creepy. They just stare at me all the time like that creepy 3rd year that keeps asking me for Harry's autograph.'

The others laughed at the harshness of Daphne's comments about the goblins.

'Daph, didn't you literally just say the people Hermione is working with are too cruel to creatures?' Sadie asked through her laughter, Hermione was also grinning at the hypocritical nature of her Slytherin friend.

Daphne rolled her eyes at them, 'yeah, well goblins are different. Nobody likes goblins, even Bill doesn't like them and he works with them all the time.'

'Bill this, Bill that,' Hermione teased, 'does Harry have something to be worried about?'

'Don't be silly,' Daphne said honestly, 'Bills not badass enough for me,' she teased.

'I'm worried about Harry,' Hermione said, and she frowned slightly, 'I have a bad feeling.'

'What do you mean?' Hannah asked in confusion as Daphne surveyed Hermione with a raised eyebrow.

Hermione looked down to her clasped hands, 'I don't know, it's just a thing Harry and I have always had,' she admitted, 'when one of us is in danger we get a bad feeling, we can just tell the other one is in trouble.'

'That must have come in handy,' Sadie said thoughtfully and Hermione nodded, 'it did during the war.'

'What about Draco?' Daphne asked, 'do you get it with him too?'

Hermione shook her head, 'no, only Harry.'

Daphne smiled at Sadie and tried to cheer Hermione up slightly, 'Oi Granger, it's my job to worry about my boyfriend and your job to worry about yours.'

Hermione laughed at this, 'yeah, I'm probably just being stupid; they aren't even allowed to leave the training facilities.'

'Yeah,' Hannah sighed, 'I miss Neville, it sucks being apart like this. I mean during the war we spent a lot of time together and we've not really been totally apart for long since we got together.'

'I bet Neville's struggling too,' Hermione said, but Hannah just laughed and shook her head, 'I bet he's fine.'

'How is St. Mungo's Hannah?' Hermione asked to try and take the Hufflepuffs mind off of Neville.

'It's horrible,' Hannah admitted sadly, 'I love the work I'm doing, but the woman who is supervising me is making my life hell because of what Nev did with Melody and Lockhart.'

'That's hardly fair!' Sadie exclaimed, 'it's not like it was your fault, I mean you didn't even have anything to do with it!

'I know!' Hannah said, shaking her head angrily, 'she's being so horrible to me and I'm trying my best, I mean my work is good, I've done everything perfectly well and I've had no acknowledgement.'

'Just report it to McGonagall on the experience form,' Daphne piped up as their food arrived and everyone began to tuck in, 'she'll get in trouble for it then.'

'Yeah, I guess,' Hannah said with a sigh as she picked up her spoon and started to eat her soup.

'Anyway, enough about me, Sadie are you having a miserable time too?' Hannah asked with a chuckle.

Sadie smiled a little sheepishly, 'No actually, I'm having a great time,' she admitted, 'the guy I'm working with is amazing, he's been letting me deal with the customers and handle the stock.'

'That's great,' Hermione said with a smile, 'at least one of us is having a good time.'

'I did have an interesting experience this morning though,' Sadie admitted with a dark look in her eyes, 'your ex came into the apothecary.'

Hermione realised Sadie had directed this at her and asked with wide eyes, 'Ron?'

Sadie nodded, 'he came in to get some supplies for his brothers new prank potions,' she said, 'and he acted like a complete git.'

'He has a tendency to do that,' Hermione said dryly.

'He's a Weasley,' Daphne added, thinking on it for a moment and then saying, 'and a Gryffindor.'

Hannah and Sadie chuckled, even Hermione smiled although she did say, 'Oi, I resent that!'

'Why was he being a git this time?' Hermione asked and Sadie raised an eyebrow, 'well, he came in and started flirting with me, I totally shot him down but he wouldn't relent. Eventually the guy who owns the apothecary had to ask him to leave.'

Hermione shook her head angrily and Daphne placed her hand on her friends arm, 'you're better off without him.'

'Oh, I know,' Hermione said truthfully, 'sometimes I just realise how much of a total arse he is.'

'Sorry for bringing it up,' Sadie said guiltily but Hermione shook her head and smiled at her friend, 'don't be, I'm fine.'

Before any more could or couldn't be said on the matter a distraction arrived.

'Guys!' Hannah said quietly as she leaned in closer to her friends, 'look at the stairs!'

Everybody turned to see what there was to look at. They saw a fairly amusing sight, Susan and Percy making their way down the stairs from the rooms above the restaurant.

Hannah and Sadie sniggered quietly, and Daphne shouted, 'Susan!'

Once they had caught the girls attention she made her way over to their table.

'Hey guys,' Susan said casually as she sat down at their table.

'Pull up a chair Percy,' Hermione said in amusement and the Weasley did so.

Hermione still couldn't get over the difference in Percy. He had really taken this bounty hunter thing seriously and he had definitely taken a leaf out of Bills book in the clothing department. He was wearing something that looked suspiciously like black skinny jeans, a black shirt and black robes. His hair was shoulder length and dyed so it was a dark red, he had his ear pierced just like Bill and he was wearing what Hermione could only fathom as biker boots. He didn't look like the same person.

'So Susan,' Daphne said, with a smirk, 'are you enjoying career week?'

Susan wasn't bothered by this, she just grinned, 'I am in fact, and this whole bounty hunter thing is good fun, 'she admitted, 'just yesterday we brought in none other than Viktor Krum, sweet revenge!'

'What did you bring him in for?' Hermione asked in surprise, she had gotten the impression that Krum was pretty law-abiding.

Percy leaned back in his chair and answered, 'he was supposed to appear on trial for attacking his team-mate when drunk, but he skipped so we had to go pick him up. I let Susan bind him and bring him in,' he said with a wink at the redhead.

Susan smirked, 'it felt good,' she admitted and Hermione laughed, she was glad to see Susan happy.

'And I see you two are making good use of your lunch time hours,' Hannah teased her best friend, Susan smiled back at her, 'hey, I'm having an enjoyable working experience, I could totally do this for a career.'

'The offer is open,' Percy said casually as he pushed himself up after his wand flashed red, 'we've got another one, let's go get 'em.'

'On it,' Susan said as Percy began to walk towards the exit of the Leaky Cauldron. Before she went after him she stopped to whisper to the others, 'best sex _ever_! Don't tell Ginny!'

The others found themselves in hysterical laughter as Susan hurried off after Percy.

* * *

><p>It was the last day of career week and in the Auror department Dawlish had decided to finish off with a duelling competition between the newbie's.<p>

It had started out fairly even. Theo and Draco had duelled on one platform while on another platform Harry had duelled Neville.

The duel between Theo and Draco was over fairly quickly. It had started off with Draco firing 'Expelliarmus' at Theo who dodged it easily with a shield charm. From the podium where he was duelling Neville, Harry had time to shout, 'Oi! That's my trademark spell!'

Draco shouted back, 'Sorry!' and Theo then teased him by saying, 'stop trying to copy Potter and let me kick your ass!'

Theo then proceeded to spice things up a little by firing 3 stunning charms in quick succession at Draco. His fellow Slytherin used a shield charm to send the first flying back at Theo, jumped to the side to avoid the second and ducked to avoid the final charm.

'Nice dodging technique!' Dawlish called from the sidelines.

'Are you practicing for the ballet Black?' Theo shouted at his friend who rolled his eyes, 'don't use my own lines against me Nott!'

'Yeah, that's his insult for me Theo; don't take that away from us!' Harry joked as he ducked to avoid Neville's 'langlock!'

'Oi! We're supposed to be keeping it clean Neville!'

'Sorry Harry! Just trying to out-badass you again,' Neville called jokingly across the podium. Nobody seemed to bother about the fact that all the Aurors were listening in.

Draco managed to get the upper hand on Theo after several more dangerous and semi-dangerous spells had been casually chucked across the platform at each other. Draco threw a full body-bind in Theo's direction and cast a numbing charm on his wand hand so when he tried to put up a shield his hand kind of hung limply and didn't do much.

'Draco!' Harry said in annoyance, 'are you trying to use spells and insults from my life or something?'

Draco smirked, 'hey, I could have removed all the bones in his hand, I was good! I'm not Lockhart!'

Harry was sure the Aurors had absolutely no idea what on earth was going on or what the boys were talking about, but Draco was declared the winner of his duel with Theo and his fellow Slytherin promptly went in the huff with him about the fact his hand still felt a bit numb.

On the podium with Neville and Harry the duel went on, and lasted longer than Theo and Draco's had. They had started out fairly nicely with the ordinary spells and jinxes being thrown about. Then it got dirty however, and it was actually Neville who started it. After dodging 'Expelliarmus' for about the 12th time he shouted, 'Sectumsempra!' and shot the spell near Harry, but far away enough so that it wouldn't hit him unless he decided to jump off the platform into it.

'Oi! You can't use my own spells against me!'

'It's not your spell Potter!' Draco called from where he and Theo were watching, 'it's Snapes!'

'That's not the point!' Harry called back as he shot a jet of boiling hot water out of his wand which Neville shielded and Harry then shielded, leaving water bouncing back and forth for a few seconds until it vanished.

Harry had to admit, Neville was good, but he wasn't as good as him.

Harry then used dirty tactics, he apparated behind Neville and knocked him out with a stunning charm.

'A dirty win, but a win all the same Potter,' Dawlish said as Harry used enervate to wake Neville up and jumped off of the platform.

Next up, Neville and Theo were to duel to determine who would come last and then Harry and Draco would duel for first and second place. The duel between Neville and Theo was over faster than anyone had expected.

Neville only got a few chances to take Theo down, because the Slytherin had learned his lesson after his duel with Draco and decided that dirty tactics would work faster than fancy wand work and he was so not coming last in this tournament. So Theo shouted, 'Neville, what's Hannah doing here?' and when Neville turned his head to look at the door Theo knocked him out with 'Expelliarmus.'

'Stealing my moves again,' Harry teased as Theo was announced the winner. Needless to say Neville wasn't happy about finishing last.

'Rookie mistake Longbottom,' Dawlish said as he shook Neville's hand, 'you're a good duellist, with practice and training you'll be great.'

Finally, it was time for the grand final between Harry and Draco. As Theo and Neville assured the Aurors it would be interesting to watch, duels between Harry and Draco always were.

Harry and Draco wasted no time with weaker jinxes and got straight into the gritty stuff. Harry started things off with a shout of, 'Reducto!' aimed straight at Draco's head.

The Slytherin dodged it easily and yelled, 'is that the best you got Potter?' He then shot 'Expelliarmus!' at Harry who shouted, 'Merlin Draco, get your own trademark! I fought a Dark Lord for that one!'

Draco shouted back, 'well thanks to you Potter there aren't any around for me to do the same!'

'Pity,' Harry called sarcastically as he shot Sectumsempra at Draco.

'Just because I let you hit me with that once Potter doesn't mean I'm going to let you everytime!' Draco called over to Harry who dodged the nasty home-made curse Draco had accompanied with this.

'By the way, did that hurt?' Harry yelled back as he sent a freezing charm over to Draco which froze the part of the platform he was standing on.

'Let me see Potter, the last time you got a massive cut through your chest did it hurt?' Draco asked sarcastically as he slid around briefly on the platform while trying to hold a shield charm and get rid of the ice.

'Well, I've had so many I don't feel the pain anymore,' Harry called back, 'you know there was the horntail, and that time Voldemort tried to kill me, oh and that other time Voldemort tried to-'

He was cut off because Draco had got back on his feet quicker than he'd expected and had sent a bludgeoning charm at Harry's arm which he still managed to dodge, he also ignored Draco's shout of , 'stop being such a smug git just cause you won the war!'

'Well, since I ended the war Black, It means I've had plenty of time to play games. Have you ever tried skipping?'

Harry then used the fire whip that Dumbledore had used in the cave when they'd gone to find the locket horcrux. He aimed it at Draco's ankles and the Slytherin cursed loudly and jumped with a slightly girlish shout. When Draco landed on the ground he swore as his ankle bent the wrong way and he crumbled to the ground.

Harry quickly shouted, 'Expelliarmus!' and then healed Draco's ankle. He made his way over to his friend and helped him up.

'And that, my friend, is how you use _my _trademark spell,' Harry said with an amused smirk, he got a glare in return.

As Harry jumped from the platform the Aurors applauded him and Dawlish approached him with a glint in his eye.

'Alright Potter, as the winner you get to take on all of us,' Dawlish said, he probably thought this would scare Harry but it only made the Gryffindor grin, 'alright, whose first?' he asked.

'Sorenson, you're up!' Dawlish said and a few seconds later Harry was on the platform once more with Sadie's big brother.

After the exciting duel that everybody had just witnessed between Harry and Draco, this one was a bit of a letdown. It barely lasted 10 minutes and Harry disarmed Sorenson after spooking him by conjuring a snake.

'Are you gonna use that to finish every duel?' Draco asked in exasperation from where he was sitting on the ground with Theo holding an ice pack on his ankle for him.

'Just showing you how to use it correctly Draco,' Harry said with a smirk towards his friend.

The next Auror Harry duelled was the woman, Emily Clark. He didn't put her down as an easy target, he'd seen Tonks duel. This duel was slightly longer and Harry ended it by conjuring a cage around Emily and hitting her on his 5th attempt with 'Expelliarmus'.

'Seriously Harry,' Neville said, shaking his head from the sidelines, 'are you really gonna use it every time?'

'You're just jealous cause you came last Nev,' Harry said as he prepared himself for the next duel. Neville grumbled in the corner and Theo smirked.

'Get that smirk off your face you were third,' Draco said to Theo who threw the ice pack at him, 'hold your own ice pack then, and you got beaten by Potter.'

Harry rolled his eyes at them and readied himself for the duel with the oldest Auror, Riley. Harry decided that with his age, the easiest way to defeat Riley would be to make him move so after 15 minutes of making the man run around the platform like a headless chicken Harry lazily disarmed him and winked at the others as they groaned, 'again?'

Finally Harry was up against Dawlish, and he was feeling pretty confident considering the fact that he hadn't lost a duel yet, and to qualified Aurors too. This was the longest duel so far, and the most impressive to watch. For at least 20 minutes spells were fired at top speed and dodged and shielded just as quickly. Eventually Harry got one over on Dawlish by using the element of surprise. From the door behind Dawlish none other than the Minister for Magic himself walked in.

'Look behind you Dawlish,' Harry yelled but the Auror wasn't convinced, 'I'm not falling for that! That's what Nott did!' Dawlish called and Harry smirked, 'No really, the Minister for Magic is behind you!'

'He is sir!' Emily shouted and Dawlish briefly, very briefly, glanced behind him and was so shocked to see the Minister that he let his shield charm down. Harry disarmed him and grinned as he walked across the platform to hand Dawlish his wand back, 'rookie mistake Dawlish,' he teased.

Dawlish rolled his eyes, 'I'll admit Potter, you're good.'

'Good enough to be a match for me?' Kingsley asked as he took off his cloak. Harry grinned, he was going to get to duel the Minister, what a perfect end to a perfect week.

So, that was how it came to be. Kingsley was at one end of the platform and Harry at the other with everybody on the floor watching eagerly.

It was the best duel of the day; in fact it was the best duel a lot of them had ever seen. It lasted for just under an hour and neither duellist seemed to get tired at all. They kept up the speed throughout the entire duel and didn't make any small slip ups. This was impressive for both of them for separate reasons. For Kingsley, he was now Minister for Magic and hadn't been practicing his duelling as often as he once had. For Harry, he didn't actually have any qualifications in duelling, unless defeating the most powerful dark wizard of all time was something he could put on a CV which he supposed in this line of work, he probably could. Regardless, Auror or not, he had still beaten all of the Aurors who _were _fully qualified.

The duel eventually ended in an amusing fashion. Harry conjured a set of mirrors behind and around Kingsley and fired 'Stupefy!', 'Reducto!' and 'Expelliarmus!' at the mirrors in quick succession. Kingsley couldn't sensibly dodge or shield them all so naturally dodged Reducto as it would have done the most damage and was then hit by the stupefy charm while trying to block it.

Unfortunately he missed something rather hilarious while he was unconscious. Harry had thought he had won and had turned to the others with an amused grin. It was only then he realised his 'Expelliarmus' charm hadn't hit anything and he turned to face the mirrors just in time to get hit by it. His wand flew from his hand and landed on the floor next to the platform.

Needless to say Draco, Theo and Neville bursting out into laughter was an understatement.

'You got hit by your own trademark spell!' Draco shouted as he roared with laughter. Harry had to admit, it was pretty ironic. He rolled his eyes as he jumped down from the platform to retrieve his wand and join them on the ground. While this was happening Dawlish was reviving the Minister.

Theo and Neville then got in on the act by both acting out the scene from their own point of view. Theo took the mick by grinning smugly and then making a ridiculous face as he pretended the spell hit him.

'Oh come on, I didn't look like that,' Harry said.

'Yes you did,' Theo said with a smirk, Neville then did the same and pretended to cry once the wand had dropped. Harry rolled his eyes, 'guys, I'm not that attached to my wand,' he said, only realising after the words had come out of his mouth how wrong they sounded.

'Daph would say otherwise,' Draco joked, still chuckling.

'As would Draco,' Theo commented, which caused he and Neville to laugh even more while Harry and Draco glared at the two boys.

'Harry,' Kingsley said from behind the boys, 'that was an incredibly good duel.'

'Apart from the part where he disarmed himself with his own spell,' Neville said and this sent he, Theo and Draco off into hysterical laughter once more.

Kingsley smiled, 'I can't believe I missed it,' he said as he held out his hand and shook Harry's, 'you better pass the tests during the selection process, I want you to be head of the department some day.'

'Well that is a high honour Kingsley,' Harry said with a smile as the Minister thanked Harry for the duel and left the training centre.

'Man, this has been a good placement,' Theo said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. Dawlish then came over to them all and thanked them. He said he hoped he'd see them soon and that he wished them good luck with the selection process as he wouldn't see them until they were selected for training.

'I wonder if the girls have had as good a time,' Draco wondered as the boys made their way through the ministry to the exit so they could apparate back to Hogsmeade.

'I suspect we'll find out soon,' Harry said and Neville grinned eagerly, 'I haven't seen Hannah in a week, I can't wait!'

The others shared amused looks as they exited the building and apparated back to Hogsmeade.

* * *

><p>When the boys walked into the 8th year common room the girls were already there and were waiting for them by the fire.<p>

Hannah, Sadie and Hermione all jumped up and rushed into their boyfriends arms.

'I really missed you Nev!' Hannah whispered as she hugged him, Neville grinned, 'I missed you too, but my week was great, how was yours?' They immediately sat down on a sofa by the fire to start catching up.

Sadie threw her arms around Theo and chuckled as he elaborately spun her around. Once he'd set her back down on the ground he kissed her and Sadie said, 'I didn't know how much I'd missed you till we had to be apart this week.' Theo smiled genuinely, 'I missed you too, even with all your cheesy cliché comments.' Sadie affectionately hit him around the back of the head and Theo grinned.

Hermione had also flung herself at Draco who hugged her and kissed her, something that didn't happen often in the common room in front of people, 'Hi,' Hermione said somewhat shyly. Draco raised an eyebrow at her, 'is that any way to greet your boyfriend who you haven't seen for a week?' he asked and Hermione grinned and kissed him once more.

Harry walked through the snogging, hugging couples to Daphne who hadn't moved from her armchair, he gently lifted her up and sat down, putting her down on his knee, 'Hey,' he said casually and Daphne smiled, 'hey, good week?' she asked. Harry grinned at her, 'oh come on, you missed me right?'

'Maybe a little,' Daphne said with a laid back shrug, but Harry smirked, 'yeah right.'

Daphne then proceeded to kiss Harry senseless, 'okay, so maybe I did miss you,' she said with a grin.

This week had been amazing for Harry, it had shown him what he could be and he didn't' feel scared about the end of Hogwarts now. It would be the end of an era, a fantastic era, but it would be the start of an age.

And the closer it got, the more he found that he couldn't wait.

**TBC **


	50. Birthdays, Butterbeer & Broken Hearts

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 50 – Birthdays, Butterbeer & Broken Hearts**

**_A/N: Okay so _I think I finally have an idea of how long this fic will be. It should be somewhere between 70 & 100 chapters, but not any longer than that :) I have too many ideas to finish it the moment they get out of school! Also does anyone want a future epilogue? Or would you rather I left it in the time its set in? ****  
><strong>

* * *

><p>After the eventful week they'd had with career week, all of the girls were ready for a party on Saturday night. The guys had been slightly sad on Saturday morning after the end of their week as Aurors, but they had cheered up when the girls had reminded them that they'd be training for real in a few months.<p>

March was coming to an end and it was ending on a high note, because today was Susan's birthday which naturally meant that there would be a massive party tonight in the 8th year common room, McGonagall had been pre-warned.

At the 8th year table at breakfast everyone was excited about the party.

'So who's getting the alcohol?' Theo asked through a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

'Well I'll bring my firewhiskey down for the occasion,' Draco said with a smile towards Susan who was sitting across from him. Susan smirked, 'good plan.'

'We'll go get the butterbeer,' Harry and Daphne chimed simultaneously; they then shared a rather mischievous smirk.

Theo narrowed his eyes at his Gryffindor friend, 'you guys _always _go. Sadie and I will go this time; I want to see what all the fun is with this passage.'

Draco and Hermione shared an amused smile and Theo said, 'Seriously? You've all done it apart from us?'

Harry and Draco sniggered and Harry said, 'sure, go for it, and have fun,' he winked at Theo and added, 'you'll have to leave just after dinner to get there and back in time, the passage is pretty long.'

'Alright,' Theo said, turning to Sadie who was sitting slightly further down the table, 'Sadie, we're getting the booze for tonight's party!'

'Cool,' Sadie replied, completely oblivious, this only made Theo smirk some more.

For it being her birthday Susan wasn't quite as happy as she should have been, something wasn't right, but nobody had figured out what it was or had called her on it yet. She'd seemed happy with her presents when they'd given her them in the common room. Hannah, Hermione, Daphne & Sadie had combined forces to give Susan a beautiful gold necklace with a ruby pendant. The boys had given Susan a set of duelling books that she knew she would need for Auror training, but they also knew she would enjoy them. Susan had been putting on a brave face, but she wasn't quite herself.

'What's wrong?' Hermione asked Susan quietly while the boys crudely discussed the merits of the secret passage to Hogsmeade.

Susan smiled, but Hermione could tell that it was kind of forced, 'I just wish I had some family on my birthday,' she admitted in a rare show of emotion, Susan was rather like Daphne when it came to letting people in, 'traditionally in the wizarding world you get your prom dress from your Mum on your birthday if it comes before the prom, and you get it as an early birthday present if it comes after prom,' Susan shrugged and looked down to the food she was pushing around her plate, 'I guess I'm just not looking forward to having to go out shopping on my own for my prom dress.'

Hermione smiled at her friend, 'well you won't be on your own, I'm a Muggle-born, I'll be buying my own dress too.'

Susan's spirits were lifted slightly, 'Thanks Mione,' she said and as she went back to pushing her food around her plate the post arrived. A few copies of the daily prophet dropped down onto the table and a few birthday cards for Susan. As the post began to disappear a large owl made its way down to the table and dropped a package in front of Susan who frowned, 'this must be for you Han, it was your Mums owl.'

Hannah smiled at her friend with a Slytherin glint in her eyes, 'it's for you, read the card on the front.'

Susan narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Hannah but all the same she opened the card that was attached to the package. Susan felt a little teary as she read the message,

'_Dear Susan,_

_We know you don't have any family and we know how hard that must be for you. As a thank you for all you did over the summer for us, we'd like to do something for you. _Happy_ Birthday._

_All of our love,_

_Carol & Henry.'_

Susan was trying to hold the tears in as she opened the box and pulled out a prom dress. A very beautiful one too, it was red, the same colour as the necklace the girls had gotten her and it was floor-length and made of silk.

'Oh my god,' Susan said as she hastily wiped her tears, 'this is beautiful Han, they shouldn't have.'

Hannah smiled fondly at her fellow Hufflepuff, 'they wanted to Susan,' she said happily, 'they wanted to thank you for helping out with the house over the summer.'

Susan shook her head, 'if anything they helped me by giving me a place to stay.'

Hannah was still smiling as she said, 'oh come on Susan, you know my Mum, there's no way she'll take it back, it's yours.'

Susan grinned and hugged Hannah, 'thank you,' she said, and she wiped her eyes again and put the dress back in its box, 'I'm going to go and write a reply,' Susan said as she grabbed the box and card and abandoned her breakfast for the owlery.

The rest of the day passed fairly slowly and quietly, no one did any work (apart from Hermione) and everybody spent the day inside just being lazy. The weather outside was horrible, it hadn't stopped raining all day. After dinner Harry gave Theo his invisibility cloak and the password to the passageway and he and Sadie headed off to Hogsmeade to get the booze and the others got started on preparing the common room.

* * *

><p>The party was as crazy as any party with the 8th years ever was. Charlie and Sinistra had turned up, but they disappeared very quickly. Percy had somehow managed to sneak into the castle for the party although Susan had been spending more time dancing with the girls than with the Weasley.<p>

'What do you think?' Harry asked with narrowed eyes as Hermione came over to the armchair he was sitting on and sat down on the arm of it.

'About what?' Hermione asked as she tried to catch her breath, she sniggered as Neville jumped up onto the table she'd just been dancing on with Susan and Hannah.

'Percy,' Harry said as he surveyed the Weasley who was currently drinking firewhiskey and talking to Draco and Theo at the other side of the room.

'I think he got pretty hot,' Hermione said with a smirk as Harry rolled his eyes and handed her a drink.

'He's getting pretty badass,' Harry said, still watching Percy suspiciously, 'he better not try and out-badass me.'

'Don't worry babe,' a new voice said from behind him, he grinned as Daphne dropped down onto his knee, 'no one can out-badass the chosen –boy-who-lived and killed Voldemort, etcetera,' she said casually as she grabbed her drink from the table in front of him.

Hermione chuckled at this and Harry continued, 'well, what I _actually _meant was do you think he's bad news for Susan? She's had enough crap with Krum and I think he might be screwing around with her.'

'It's sweet that you care,' a new voice said and Harry watched as Ginny made her way around to the front of his armchair and leant against the table, 'but Susan's a big girl, she can handle him. Besides he's here isn't he? Why would he be here if there wasn't something there?'

'Gins right,' Hermione said as she got to her feet, 'but it's cute that you're worrying.'

Harry rolled his eyes, 'I'm not cute,' he said in annoyance, 'I'm badass, I'm THE Harry Potter, the chosen one, you know?'

'Right, bighead Potter,' Ginny said in amusement as she grabbed Hermione by the arm and dragged her over to the 'dancefloor' region of the common room.

'How did she even get in? She's not an 8th year,' Harry said to Daphne, he was amused at the fact Ginny attended practically all of the 8th year parties.

'Your elf hoodwinked the door for her, remember? Back when you were banging, or rather not banging her,' Daphne said with a smirk as she downed her firewhiskey, 'and Snape has a soft spot for her.'

Harry made a face of disgust at this that made Daphne smile, 'the others are talking about a game of wizarding truth or dare later? You up for it?'

'Definitely,' Harry said with a grin as he too was pulled up to dance.

As the evening progressed more and more people disappeared from the common room. Tessie and Isabelle had disappeared with Terry and Anthony fairly early on and as the night wore on Seamus slinked off to his dorm room on his own as he always did these days. Nobody really wanted to think about where Ernie and Justin were or what they were doing, but they weren't in the common room.

By the time the clock struck midnight and Susan's birthday was technically over there were only a smattering of people left partying and by the time it hit 1am, only the dedicated (or insane) partiers were left in the common room. This group of people of course consisted of Harry, Draco, Theo, Neville, Hermione, Daphne, Sadie, Hannah and the birthday girl Susan, although oddly enough Lavender and Blaise had stayed with them this time.

It was around this time that they ended up in a circle as they prepared to play wizarding truth or dare. The difference between wizarding truth and dare and ordinary truth and dare was that a circle was glowing around the group of cross-legged students which compelled them to do the dares and everybody had taken a sip of Veritaserum which meant they would have to answer the questions honestly.

They decided to start by going around the circle and letting everyone ask a question, either to an individual or to the group as a whole, and it lead to some strange and amusing revelations. Daphne started the game off.

'Alright then, who has been in another house common room and why?' Daphne asked with a smirk. They went around the circle.

Harry grinned sheepishly, 'well I've been in all of them,' he admitted.

Daphne rolled her eyes, she hadn't known that but it didn't exactly surprise her either, Harry elaborated, 'well I went to the Ravenclaw common room with Luna, not for the reasons you'd think!' he added as he started to get suggestive looks, 'I had to go there to see if I could find anything out about one of Voldemorts horcruxes because it had something to do with Rowena Ravenclaw, and I was in the Hufflepuff common room because,' he paused and blushed and caught Susan's eye. The Hufflepuff chuckled, 'because he met up with me there after the final battle.'

Hermione gaped and Ginny shook her head in amusement, 'I wondered if that was where you went.'

'I can't believe you did that!' Hermione said in surprise, 'straight after the battle when you disappeared for 2 months?'

Harry sighed, he thought he might have some explaining to do, 'look it messed me up, I'd never had the chance to have fun while I was a teenager and as soon as it was over I was a mixture of relieved and depressed so I went a little wild.'

'Well at least you're honest about it,' Ginny said with a small smile, 'and we weren't together at the time, it's not like it was forbidden or anything.'

'It still wasn't nice, on either account,' Susan said honestly, 'so sorry Ginny.'

Ginny merely shook her head, 'don't worry about it.'

'Anyway Potter,' Draco said, referring back to the Gryffindors second name as he usually did when he was drunk, 'why were you in the Slytherin common room?'

'Yeah Harry? Why _were _you in our common room?' Sadie asked with a laugh.

Harry and Hermione shared a smirk, 'well do you guys remember in 2nd year when the chamber of secrets was opened?'

A dark look flashed across Ginny's face that it seemed only Harry noticed, but everybody else just nodded. Harry continued, 'Hermione and me thought that it had been opened by the heir of Slytherin, and we sort of thought that was Draco and that his Dad had opened the chamber when he was at school.'

Hermione laughed and added, 'in fact we thought that Lucius had handed down the key to the chamber to Draco,' there was laughter all round as Harry finished, 'so we took some polyjuice potion, Ron and I, to become Crabbe and Goyle and we snuck into the Slytherin common room to question Draco.'

'Oh my god,' Draco said through his laughter, 'that day Crabbe and Goyle were acting so weird, that was you?'

Harry nodded, still looking slightly sheepish, 'yeah...'

'And he thought you were the heir of Slytherin,' Theo choked out between laughs, Draco grinned, 'I know, brilliant!'

'Why didn't you sneak in as well Mione?' Daphne asked and Hermione's cheeks turned scarlet, this time Harry burst into laughter and said, 'she was too busy coughing up fur balls.'

Hermione glared at Harry but unfortunately couldn't reach her wand, that was one of the rules of the game, wands were to left outside of the circle, 'I tried to use the potion to turn into Millicent Bulstrode, but the hair I thought was hers was actually her cats hair, so I ended up with the face of a cat.'

'And a tail,' Harry added as the others laughed, Draco merely winked at his girlfriend and whispered something in her ear, Hermione's face turned even more pink and Harry decided that he didn't want to know what had been said.

They continued around the circle and found out that Theo had also been in all of the common rooms, most likely hooking up with different girls, and that Neville had also been in the Hufflepuff common room.

Next it was Harry's turn to ask a question.

'How many of you wanted me in 6th year when you found out I was the chosen one?' Harry asked with a rather cocky smirk and Daphne grinned at her boyfriend's question, 'well I did of course,' she said, 'I thought it was pretty badass of you.'

Harry smirked at Neville, 'see Nev, badass,' he said making his fellow Gryffindor roll his eyes. As they continued around the circle Sadie admitted, 'a little bit,' with a faint blush.

'Sadie? Seriously? Him? The chosen-skinny-runt-Gryffindor-git?' Theo asked in astonishment.

'Theo look at yourself,' Susan said with an amused grin, 'you are practically Harry without the scar and glasses!'

'What?' Theo said sounding horrified, 'I don't look like anything like Potter!'

'You kind of do,' Hermione said with a smirk, 'I mean look at the messy black hair, and the bony body.'

Theo made a face and shook his head, 'this conversation ends here,' he said finally and Harry shared an amused chuckle with Daphne who mouthed, 'he does look kinda like you.'

After finding out that Susan also had a thing for Harry because of him being the chosen one ('what can I sat I have a thing for famous men') and that Hannah wouldn't go there ('sorry Harry') and that Lavender had been too obsessed with Ron ('no offence, but I preferred your best friend') they finally got to Ginny and Hermione.

Ginny laughed and said, 'I always had a thing for you, but I guess it was kind of hot.'

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, 'well I never really had a thing for you per say, sorry.'

Harry only laughed at this, 'don't worry Hermione, I was just curious.'

The next question that arose was a general question of, 'what was the scariest experience of your life?'

The answers were fairly predictable, Hermione said the time she was tortured in Malfoy Manor, Harry said it was when he walked into the forbidden forest to die. Daphne told them it was when her Father set fire to the family home, Draco said it was when he was supposed to kill Dumbledore, and so on. Then they got to Ginny.

'Uh,' Ginny said with a slight frown, 'it was when I was possessed by Voldemort in my 1st year.'

There was a small silence and then Daphne asked, 'Ginny...what _did _happen then with the diary? We didn't really know you then.'

Ginny smiled, but it was forced, 'I wrote in a diary, I confided in it I guess and it wrote back to me, but I just kept writing not realising that it was possessing me,' she shrugged, 'eventually Voldemort managed to get inside my head and I ended up in the chamber.'

'You had it so much worse than me Gin,' Harry said, something was different in his voice, but Ginny wasn't sure if it was guilt or something else, 'if Voldemorts soul _did _split into two every time he made a horcrux then the diary contained fifty percent of his soul.'

Hermione nodded, 'I'm amazed Ginny, that you came out of it as okay as you did,' she said with a gentle smile.

Ginny nodded, and changed the subject as quickly as she could. Harry's eyes lingered on her briefly, but then Daphne spoke to him and his eyes were drawn away.

The questions kept going and then they began to really get interesting when Theo jokingly asked Daphne and Hermione if Draco or Harry was better in bed. Without their boyfriends seeing the girls shared a small smile and replied in unison, 'Harry.'

'Hermione!' Draco exclaimed as his girlfriend burst out laughing along with Daphne, 'that isn't funny; you could have given me a heart attack.'

'Hey on that note, I bet I've slept with more people in this circle than you,' Draco said smugly to Harry who glanced around briefly and said, 'you probably have, I'm not as much of a womanizer as you.'

'Yeah, that's true,' Hermione said with a snort, 'how you get girls is beyond me Harry.'

'He can be smooth when he wants to be,' Daphne said with a smile, 'it's how he got me, once he stopped being a bumbling fool all the time that was.'

'Hey, you distracted me a lot,' Harry said, trying to defend himself, 'and I'm not that bad Hermione.'

'Alright then,' Sadie said, trying to stop an inevitable argument, 'there is one easy way to settle this, put your hand in the air if you've slept with Harry.'

Hermione got glared at by Draco as she slowly raised her hand, he knew of course about the 'tent situation' as they called it, everyone in the circle knew, including Ginny. In fact Ginny knew all about Harry's month of insanity and sleeping around before they'd gotten back together. Daphne's hand also went into the air unsurprisingly and so did Susan's which didn't surprise anyone after what they'd found out earlier.

'Okay, and raise your hand if you've slept with Draco,' Sadie said, watching as the hands went into the air. A few were expected, like Hermione and Daphne's. However they didn't expect to see Susan raise her hand, or Lavender.

Hermione didn't look surprised, she obviously knew about this.

'Okay, so you win Draco,' Harry said simply, he hadn't been particularly bothered in the first place; he was not anywhere near as competitive as the Slytherins.

'Well I bet I've slept with more people here than anyone else,' Theo said smugly and Neville snorted at this.

'What? Do you want to challenge that Fatbottom?'

Neville rolled his eyes, partly amused and partly exasperated, 'why am I always fatbottom when you're annoyed with me? Can't you think of better insults?'

'Hey don't complain, it's better than what they call me,' Harry remarked.

'Shut up Pothead,' Theo said at the same time as Draco retorted, 'shut up scarhead.'

Harry rolled his eyes and Neville chuckled, Theo said, 'so are you challenging me?'

'Well since Nev's number is 3,' Harry said, 'I'm pretty sure you'll win Theo.'

'3?' Theo asked, he frowned and glanced around the group pointing at people, 'okay so Hannah obviously, and Susan,' he hit a block and began to start making guesses which amused everyone in the circle.

'Daph wouldn't do a Gryffindor unless he's a chosen one,' Daphne smirked at Harry.

'No offence Lavender but you would never have done Neville you'd have thought yourself better than him,' Lavender looked a little guilty but didn't say anything.

'Weaslette...hm, yeah you could have been desperate enough,' Ginny shot Theo a dirty look, 'shut up Nott.'

'Granger...yeah, I could see that, I mean if you could sleep with Weasley,' Theo pretended to puke up and Hermione rolled her eyes while Ginny made a face and muttered, 'that's my brother you're talking about.'

'Sadie, you wouldn't, no way, I mean look at the great taste you have,' Theo said simply, he turned to Neville who looked thoroughly amused, 'so fatbottom, was it Granger or Weaslette?'

'It was Sadie,' Neville said truthfully, and Theo's jaw dropped, 'WHAT? When? Why?'

Sadie bit her lip at the reaction, she was trying not to laugh, 'the summer between 6th and 7th year, I told you about this Theo, we live near each other.'

'But you actually slept with him?' Theo asked in disgust, 'Sadie! He's my best friend!'

Sadie couldn't help but laugh at this, he was lecturing her about this when he'd slept with half of the population of Hogwarts, 'you weren't best friends then! You hated Neville!'

Theo floundered for a moment, 'yeah well you were my best friend then though!'

'That doesn't even make sense Theo,' Sadie said lightly, 'have a drink,' she said with a chuckle as she threw a bottle of butterbeer towards him. Theo grabbed it, opened and shut up.

'Anyway, back to the point Theo's number in this circle is 3 too by my reckoning so it's a draw,' Draco said as he too grabbed himself a bottle of butterbeer.

'It's 4 actually,' Harry said and Lavender blushed a little and mumbled something about after her break up with Ron in 6th year.

'Theo, you are officially the biggest manslut, does this surprise you?' Sadie asked in amusement and Theo smirked, 'glad I haven't lost my title.'

The others could only roll their eyes at this, but then it all got a little too personal.

'Merlin Susan, is there anyone in our year you haven't slept with?' Theo asked as he realised she'd slept with all of the guys in the circle. Susan frowned and Theo laughed slightly cruelly, 'in fact, is there anyone in the school you haven't slept with?'

'Fuck off Theo,' Susan said and from the brief glance they got before she withdrew herself from the game and ran off it looked like she was crying.

'Nice one Theo,' Daphne said with a glare as she rushed after Susan. Hermione made to leave too, but Harry stopped her, 'don't Mione; I think Daphne will be better at helping her out on this one.'

Hermione nodded, but sighed, the game was over now. Everyone was either annoyed with Theo or tired and ready for bed. Sadie and Theo made their way out of the common room arguing as they did so. Hermione and Draco quickly disappeared upstairs. Neville and Hannah briefly kissed goodnight and left for their separate common rooms. As all of this was going on Harry was sitting staring into the fire. He was vaguely aware of Lavender and Blaise making their way up to their separate dorm rooms, but then he shut his eyes as he felt a headache coming on.

'Do you mind if I stick around for a bit?' a voice asked from next to him, Harry opened his eyes and saw Ginny standing by the fire.

'Nah, stick around as long as you want,' Harry said as Ginny dropped down next to him on the sofa.

'Thanks Harry,' Ginny said as she laid her head on his shoulder. They were silent for a moment.

'What did you mean earlier? When you said I had worse?' Ginny asked eventually.

Harry opened his eyes and looked at her, she looked troubled, 'Voldemorts soul split in half every time he made a horcrux, so the first horcrux contained 50% of his soul and that was the diary.'

'What about you Harry?' Ginny asked as she caught Harry's eye, 'you were a horcrux, weren't you?'

Harry nodded thoughtfully, he'd researched this, not that anybody else knew about it, but he knew exactly what percentage of Voldemorts soul had gone into each horcrux.

'So 25% of his soul was in the second horcrux,' Ginny realised and Harry nodded, 'which was what cursed Dumbledore and weathered his hand. The third horcrux was the locket we found in Grimmauld Place and that contained 12.5% of his soul.'

'And the next had 6.25%,' Ginny said, 'I understand, so what about you Harry?'

'I had 1.5% of Voldemorts soul inside me,' Harry admitted finally, it was something he didn't like to talk about, to anyone, Daphne didn't even know the full story yet.'

'Wow,' Ginny said, shaking her head in disbelief, 'for 18 years, you had him inside you.'

'It wasn't like how it was with you,' Harry admitted, 'it was diluted.'

'Yeah, but Harry, I only had to put up with it for a year, less than that really,' Ginny said with a look in her eyes that Harry couldn't interpret.

'It was different Ginny, he couldn't take control of my body like that,' Harry said as he stared into the fire once more.

'What did it feel like Harry?' Ginny asked quietly.

Harry sighed and leant back against the sofa, he shut his eyes, 'it felt...it felt like he was always there, in the back of my mind, like there was always some dark thoughts lurking in the back of my head,' Harry opened his eyes and looked at Ginny, 'I felt like I was becoming him slowly, and if it had happened for much longer...' Harry trailed off and shook his head.

'You think you would have become like him,' Ginny said with a look of understanding, she nodded, 'I felt like I was becoming evil, like I couldn't-'

'Control your own thoughts anymore,' Harry finished and Ginny nodded, they both looked into the fire momentarily.

'Harry, we're more alike than you originally thought,' Ginny said, her head was once again resting on his shoulder.

'Yeah, I know,' Harry said, his eyes were still closed, and his head was foggy with all of the firewhiskey.

'Why didn't we work out?'

Harry knew these thoughts, and this conversation was dangerous, but he also knew it was something that needed to be talked about.

'It wasn't because of the reasons you said, was it? It was because of Daphne.'

'Yeah,' Harry admitted, he wasn't going to lie to Ginny, 'it was because of Daphne.'

'Is it worth it?' Ginny asked and Harry opened his eyes to look at her, he was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

Harry thought about the question for a moment and wasn't sure if he could answer it, he sighed and shut his eyes again.

'You don't have as much in common, I know you don't, and she doesn't understand you the same way I did,' Ginny said, refusing to let the tears in her eyes spill.

'You're right, we don't have as much in common and she doesn't know me that well just yet, but she hasn't known me for as long as you have,' Harry said slowly, 'and I don't know why we didn't work out Ginny, but we didn't and isn't that the end of the story?'

'No, not if you miss me. Do you?' Ginny asked, her eyes were narrow as she looked at her ex-boyfriend.

'Yeah,' Harry said, and he couldn't control the words until they were out, even then he wasn't sure what had compelled him to say it, but he knew somewhere deep down he meant it, 'I do miss you sometimes Gin,' Harry said as he turned to the girl. Ginny caught Harry's eye and something happened, something that hadn't happened for a long time, he let his guard down. Ginny moved closer to Harry and kissed him, and it felt so familiar even after all this time, but he knew he had to stop it so he fought through the fog in his head and pulled away.

'Ginny, I'm sorry, we can't do this,' Harry said, as he jumped up from the sofa.

'I'm sorry,' Ginny said, very flustered, she too jumped up and said, 'I'll go back to the Gryffindor common room, I'm sorry Harry, just forget it ever happened.'

The Gryffindor girl then left the common room in a hurry and Harry fell back onto the sofa with a groan, he was going to have to tell Daphne about this, and how would she take that?

'Harry,' a voice tentatively said from the stairwell to the boy's dormitory.

Harry jumped when he first heard the voice but then calmed down when he realised it was just Neville, 'oh hey Nev, did you see that?' Harry asked as Neville sat down next to Harry on the sofa where Ginny had just been.

'Yeah,' Neville admitted, 'I left my wand down here,' he exclaimed, casually waving his wand at Harry as if to prove this.

'So you saw Ginny kiss me.'

'Yeah, although to be fair you only let her for a couple of seconds,' Neville admitted, he watched as Harry gazed into the fire, 'I let Susan do much more when I had my stupid lapse of judgement.'

'I'm not strong if that's what you think,' Harry said with a bitter laugh, 'I'm pathetic, I fall too deeply, I totally fell in love with Hermione when we were on the road together, or at least I thought I did,' Harry shook his head, 'looking back now I don't know what it was.'

'Lust? A need for someone to hold at night?' Neville suggested as he sighed, 'Harry, we're young we will do stupid things. We've all gone to hell and back, we're a bit messed up.'

Harry barked out a laugh reminiscent of one of Sirius's, 'I've definitely done some stupid things.'

'Was breaking up with Ginny one of them?' Neville asked, right to the point, he knew Harry well enough to know that it was the best way to help his fellow Gryffindor.

'Maybe,' Harry admitted, 'I did love her; at least I felt the same way about Ginny that I feel about Daph now.'

'Did you feel it all the time?' Neville asked, Harry managed a wry smile, Neville always asked the right questions.

'No,' Harry admitted as he pinched the top of his nose with his fingers, his head was pounding, 'It was amazing at the end of 6th year, it was perfect,' he sighed, 'but it was never the same after the war.'

'You changed Harry,' Neville said simply, 'you went through a war and spent months living rough, after all that happened it's only natural that you would change as a person, so your taste changed.'

'Yeah,' Harry said slowly, although not quite believing Neville.

'I changed,' Neville admitted, 'I kind of wish I could go back to being the shy idiot that everyone felt sorry for,' he frowned deeply, 'I know I'll be a good Auror, but I don't like the pressure of this whole war hero thing, it makes me feel cocky and I don't like that so I try and push it down, and Hannah keeps me grounded obviously.'

'I hate the war hero thing too,' Harry said with a groan, 'and Daph just makes me feel normal, she doesn't give me any special treatment, none of you do, and I love it. You treat me like I'm normal, Ginny doesn't anymore.'

'Well you just answered your own question,' Neville said with a chuckle, 'are you going to tell Daph?'

'Yeah,' Harry said with a sigh, 'I'd rather I told her the truth the way I know it rather than her finding out through a twisted rumour version of events.'

Harry pushed himself to his feet and smiled at Neville, 'thanks Nev,' he turned to leave but then paused and turned back to his friend, 'you've been there through all of it, so thanks.'

Neville smiled and got to his feet too, 'don't worry about it. As much as I like Theo, and as much as you like Draco, and no matter what units we get split into when we become Aurors,' Neville paused, for dramatic reasons, 'if we're ever in a life or death situation, you're my second.'

Harry grinned at his friend, 'and you're mine,' he said, patting him on the back. They both chuckled as they hugged, a non-awkward hug because they'd been friends for so long.

'Night Harry.'

'Night Neville.'

* * *

><p>After Susan had hurried upstairs Daphne had followed her friend. She knew that Susan probably wouldn't want to talk, but she needed too, and if anyone could help a girl in her situation it was Daphne.<p>

As Daphne made her way into the dorm she shared with Susan and Hermione, she caught sight of the Hufflepuff climbing into her bed and pulling the curtains around it.

'Susan, let me in,' Daphne said calmly, 'trust me, I can help you out.'

There was no response from inside and Daphne groaned.

'If you want people to help you've gotta let them in Susan,' Daphne said, slightly exasperated.

A muffled response came from within, 'I don't need your help or anyone else's!'

Daphne decided to change her approach, Susan was fairly similar to her and she knew the approach that would have gotten a response from herself, 'Susan if you want idiots like Theo to keep implying that you're a slut then by all means stay inside your bed and don't let anyone help you. It doesn't bother me, I'll go and spend the night with my _boyfriend_ who I only got because I stopped being the way you are!'

It worked. The curtains flew open.

'The way I am?' Susan hissed angrily, 'thanks Daphne, so you're saying I'm the screwed up version of you!'

'Yeah!' Daphne said, raising her voice slightly, 'you are Susan! You are exactly how I was before I met Harry which is why you've gotta let me help.'

Susan was silent and then she heard footsteps coming up the staircase, 'come in,' she said gruffly and the moment Daphne had seated herself cross-legged on Susan's bed, the Hufflepuff drew the curtains, locked them both in and cast a muffliato charm around the bed.

Susan's eyes were slightly bloodshot and puffy; her hair wasn't quite as immaculate as usual either.

'Susan, I really do want to help you,' Daphne said honestly, 'I know what you're going through and I bet it's for similar reasons to me.'

'Okay then,' Susan said, sounding slightly more like herself, 'why do I sleep with so many guys?'

'Well, I think part of it is to make yourself feel better, you don't think you are good enough or attractive enough which is complete nonsense of course because you are gorgeous,' Daphne said matter of factly as she casually lay down on her stomach, 'and part of it comes from never having a father figure. It can go either way, I did it to piss my Dad off because he was a bastard, others do it because they've never really had a good male role model so they don't think good men exist.'

'Do they exist? Apart from Harry, and Neville I've never met one,' Susan said bitterly.

'Why didn't you stick with Neville when you had him? Or Harry for that matter?' Daphne asked, she was curious but she also knew that Susan needed to talk.

The other girls had arrived in the dormitory and had started to talk, but Susan and Daphne just ignored them.

'I don't know,' Susan admitted, 'I wish I had, I got scared with Neville the moment things got slightly serious, and Harry...well it wasn't anything, I felt used if anything,' she admitted, 'he'd literally just gone through a war, he was a broken man. How can you salvage anything out of that?'

'I guess,' Daphne said simply, referring to Harry, 'and I know what you mean, the moment things got anywhere near serious with Harry I freaked out.'

'What do you mean?' Susan asked with a frown, she hadn't really been an integral part of the group when Daphne and Harry had first met.

'We didn't get together until November,' Daphne said and Susan nodded, she knew that, 'but we'd been sleeping together since September.'

'Wow,' Susan said, 'I didn't know.'

'Only a few people did,' Daphne admitted with a smile, 'but the point is I was completely smitten by him, he was perfect for me, but whenever it got remotely serious I freaked out and a few times he nearly gave up on me because of it.'

'So...is that why he broke up with Ginny?' Susan asked, suddenly realising what had gone on earlier in their 8th year.

Daphne nodded, a look of guilt flashing across her face, 'he pretty much broke up with his girlfriend for me and for two months I screwed him over, he shouldn't have stuck around and I definitely don't deserve him, but I love him, and I'm so glad he did.'

'Percy was engaged,' Susan said with a sigh, she moved to lie down on her stomach next to Daphne, both of them staring at the wooden headboard, 'it wasn't my fault it broke off though. She said he changed too much when he became a bounty hunter and she didn't like the same things as him anymore.'

'Hermione says he seems like a different person,' Daphne said, trying to help Susan, but also fishing for gossip a little herself.

'Yeah, he kind of did what Harry did,' Susan admitted, 'he seemed to go on fine for a while after the war then it all hit him and he wanted to do something to help people and just totally changed.'

'It seems like you've talked to him a lot,' Daphne realised and Susan smiled, 'yeah, he's different.'

'Let me guess,' Daphne said with a fond smile as she thought of her own memories, 'you fool around all over the place but then you end up in a bed together somewhere and once it's all over you sit and talk for hours.'

Susan grinned, 'exactly, and neither of us leave after. I've never spent the night with someone since...'

'Harry,' Daphne finished with a smile, 'hey I know all about it, he told me everything,' she said before Susan could start worrying, 'he's a gentleman Susan, it's one of the things I love about him.'

'Percy is the same,' Susan admitted, she was still smiling, 'a person can't change everything about themselves, he's still a gentleman, but he's just a bit rougher around the edges.'

Daphne grinned, 'yeah, but rough edges are so fun, right?'

Susan laughed and was glad that she'd let Daphne in, 'they are.'

'I don't mean to intrude, but this seems like more than you make it out to be, so can I give you some straight advice?' Daphne asked and Susan nodded, she had an idea of what Daphne was going to say, 'if you can, don't let him get away, If things start to get serious and you need someone to talk to you can always come to me, but don't let him go just because you get scared.'

'Okay,' Susan said with a smile, 'thanks Daphne, I'm sorry we haven't talked much before now, I kind of thought you were stuck up.'

'I thought you were too much like me,' Daphne said with a laugh, 'I thought we'd clash because of it.'

The two girls laughed but before anymore could be said the sound of the door bursting open could be heard.

'Harry! I'm in the middle of getting changed!' Hermione squawked.

'Whatever,' Harry said casually, 'it's nothing I've not seen before.'

'We need to install privacy rules,' Hermione muttered, 'what do you want?'

'Daphne, I need to talk to her,' Harry said simply, 'where is she?'

'She's in bed with Susan,' Hermione replied and inside the bed Susan and Daphne laughed loudly.

'What?' Harry asked loudly.

'Shut up Potter,' Mandy Brocklehurst said sleepily from one of the other beds. The last bed belonged to Gabrielle and there was silence from within.

There was the sound of Harry sitting down on Hermione's bed and Hermione grumbling, 'can you please let me put some clothes on?'

'She went in there to talk to Susan, they've been a while, what do you need her for?' Hermione asked as she quickly changed and then sat down next to Harry on her bed.

Harry sighed and lay back on Hermione's bed, 'I kissed Ginny, well, Ginny kissed me.'

'Do I want to know why?' Hermione asked as she lay back on the bed next to him, they both looked up at top of Hermione's four-poster which was decorated very nicely. There was a Gryffindor banner hung across it, and there was also a picture of Draco and Hermione at the Yule Ball. Harry smiled as he looked at the picture of all of them at the Halloween Ball.

'Wow, Mione, I didn't know you had those photos,' Harry said as he looked at a picture of himself and Hermione on Christmas day in 1st year and next to it a picture of them at Ministry Ball that had followed the final battle.

'We look so different,' Hermione said with a smile, she grabbed Harry's hand and smiled at him, 'thanks Harry, you know for being there.'

'You're welcome,' Harry said with a smile, 'it's odd, I just had a conversation similar to this with Nev.'

'Yeah, how come?' Hermione asked as she too looked up at the 1st year version of herself and Harry that were smiling down at them.

'Well after Ginny kissed me he gave me some advice,' Harry said simply and then he explained, 'Gin and I were talking about horcruxes and being possessed by Voldemort, I guess I just realised we did have a lot more in common than me and Daph do.'

'What you have in common isn't always the most important thing,' Hermione reasoned and Harry nodded, 'yeah, I know, but for a moment I wondered and then she kissed me and I stopped it obviously, but I feel bad all the same so I need to tell Daph.'

'I think that's very noble of you, and definitely the right thing to do,' Hermione said simply, and Harry sighed, 'yeah, doesn't mean I'm looking forward to it. Mione, when did you realise you were in love with Draco?'

Hermione paused for a moment to think about Harry's question and then replied, 'after Valentine's day, going through all of that with him made me realise I didn't want to lose him.'

'I think I realised with Daphne around the same time,' Harry admitted as he stared up at little him with his arm around little Hermione, he had been so innocent and naive back then.

'I know we don't have as much in common as I do with Gin, but there's just something there that was missing with Ginny. It sounds stupid and cheesy but it's like she was always meant to be there, and I was just waiting for her, and now she is there I don't know how I could go on if she wasn't.'

Hermione chuckled and kissed Harry on the cheek, 'you have a way of words about you,' she said sarcastically and Harry rolled his eyes.

'Daph, you can come out now,' Hermione called out into the dark room, 'I know you can probably hear everything we're saying.'

Inside the bed Daphne smiled at Susan who thanked her again and hugged her then let the charms down. Daphne climbed out of Susan's bed and smiled, 'yeah, I heard it all,' she admitted.

Harry's face paled slightly, 'do you want to go upstairs?'

Daphne smiled and took Harrys hand, they left the room together.

'Are you annoyed with me?' Harry asked as they went down one staircase and re-entered the now empty common room.

'No,' Daphne said honestly as they made their way up the boy's staircase to the top of the tower, 'in fact I think the fact you were going to tell me is very sweet.'

'I promise that she kissed me, and I pulled away really quickly, although my brain was slightly foggy with alcohol,' Harry admitted as they made their way into the room he shared with Draco and pulled the door shut.

'Hermione will be up soon,' Harry called through the thin barrier to Draco who replied, 'thanks!'

Harry chuckled and fell back onto his bed with a sigh, Daphne did the same.

'I love you Daphne, not Ginny. I guess it took a weird kiss to realise that it doesn't always matter how much you have in common with a person that makes you love them, sometimes it can be how different you are.'

Daphne smiled at him, 'how much have you had to drink? You only get this cheesy when you're drunk.'

Harry grinned, 'maybe I am drunk,' he admitted as Daphne rolled over and kissed him, his brain went foggy again but in a different way.

'Miss. Greengrass, are you trying to take advantage of a drunken man?' Harry asked in a teasing voice as she broke the kiss to lock the curtains around the bed and do the usual silencing charms.

Daphne grinned down at him, 'do you know what Mr. Potter, I believe I am,' she said wickedly.

'Good,' Harry said as he pulled her down to him and kissed her once more.

Harry wasn't sure of much in that moment, his brain was on the verge of completely shutting down, but he was sure that he loved Daphne, and that he definitely didn't love Ginny.

He was also sure that he was about to have a very enjoyable night.

**TBC **


	51. The Prank War

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 51 – The Prank War**

When Harry got up on Wednesday morning he didn't think it was an exceptional day. The day felt exceptionally ordinary in fact as he got dressed and made his way down to the great hall in a sleep infused daze. As he yawned his way down the staircase he didn't think about much other than the fact that he hoped it would soon be the weekend because the closer they got to the N.E.W.T exams the more he hated being in class. In a way he would be relieved when Hogwarts was over, but he'd probably miss it just as much.

When Harry got the great hall everybody was already sitting at the 8th year table eating. Daphne looked up and smiled at him as he dropped sleepily onto the bench beside her, 'Morning Harry.'

Harry gave his girlfriend a half-hearted smile and yawned some more as he piled food onto his plate, 'Morning Daph.'

It was after Harry had eaten some bacon that his day began to get less ordinary. Neville sneakily smirked at Hannah and then jumped up onto the table and addressed the school.

'People of Hogwarts. Today is your lucky day!' Neville exclaimed, 'Mr. Harry James Potter, the war hero himself, is going to be signing photographs in the entrance hall in 5 minutes!'

Harry gaped at Neville as lots of little first and second years jumped up and rushed out into the entrance hall. Draco and Theo were holding each other up as they shook with laughter, even the girls were giggling.

'That's right, form an orderly queue and the chosen one will be right with you!' Neville said, he jumped down from the table and made his way over to Harry with a grin, 'you said I couldn't out-badass you, I thought we'd settle it with a prank war.'

Harry was partly amused at Neville's behaviour, but pissed at the fact he was now going to have to sign autographs for god knows how long. It did mean that he might miss some of Divination though...

'A prank war?' Harry asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes, 'oh, you are so on.'

'Good,' Neville said, with a similar glint in his eyes, 'you better get into the entrance hall Harry, your fans are waiting,' he added with a wink. Harry tried not to show his annoyance as he got to his feet, he was about to walk away from the table when Neville called out, 'Happy April Fool's Day!'

As he walked away from the table he was sure he heard Draco and Theo echo in unison to Neville, 'How are you not a Slytherin?!'

Harry cursed under his breath, of course, he should have realised it was April Fools. Well if Neville wanted a prank war he'd get one. Harry smirked to himself as he sat down by a table in the entrance hall and started signing autographs for 1st and 2nd years he didn't know. He'd been at it for 15 minutes when breakfast let out and his so-called friends laughed at him on their way to class. Harry rolled his eyes and continued signing autographs.

'Colin!' Harry exclaimed in surprise when he saw Luna's boyfriend, 'after all these years you still want my autograph?' he asked in exasperation.

Colin merely smirked, 'I don't want it for myself, I'm going to sell it. Do you how much galleons I can get for your autograph?'

'How much?' Harry asked curiously as he signed a photo of himself for his fellow Gryffindor.

'300 on a good day,' Colin said with a grin as he took the photograph from Harry, 'cheers Harry!'

Harry glanced behind Colin as he left and was glad to see that there were only a few people left in the queue. He signed another couple of photos and got to the last person, another person whom he knew.

'Astoria!' Harry said loudly when he saw Daphne's little sister waiting awkwardly in front of him, 'what are you doing here?'

'Don't tell Daphne,' Astoria said as her cheeks turned red, 'but I want your autograph, I think you're amazing Harry. What you did was truly heroic.'

'No, it wasn't,' Harry said as he signed the photograph, 'most of it was just pure luck, you ask your sister that and she'll say the same. The heroes of the war are the ones who aren't around to sign autographs, you just remember that and you'll be honouring their memories.'

Astoria nodded, her cheeks still pink, 'that was a good speech Harry, you'd make a good Minister one day.'

Harry laughed at this, 'Thanks Astoria, but I don't think I'll ever become a politician.'

'I hope you marry Daphne, Harry,' Astoria said shyly, 'I think it would be great if you were part of the family.'

Harry smiled fondly at the girl, 'Thanks Astoria, that's nice of you.'

Astoria blushed brightly and nodded, then she hurried away as fast as possible. Her behaviour had reminded Harry of-

'Ginny!'

Ginny was lurking in the shadows with an amused smile, 'there was a time I'd have been in the front of that queue.'

Harry laughed as he got to his feet, 'where you heading?'

'Free, the common room. You?' Ginny asked as they made their way onto the grand staircase.

'Divination,' Harry replied, 'did you see Daphne's sister?' he asked with a chuckle, 'she was all embarrassed like you used to be around me.'

'Yeah, I remember that,' Ginny said with a laugh, 'listen Harry I wanted to talk you about Friday...what happened at Susan's party it-'

'It's okay Ginny,' Harry said quickly, 'I know.'

'It was just a complete lack of judgement,' Ginny said as she shook her head, 'I know you love Daphne and I don't know whether I love Michael, but he makes me happy.'

'I'm glad,' Harry said with a smile, 'so can we agree to be friends with no attachments or drunken kisses?'

Ginny chuckled and nodded, 'yeah, I think we can agree on that,' she said as they reached the point where they went their separate ways. They said goodbye and Harry hurried up the North tower, he was out of breath and 20 minutes late for class when he reached the trapdoor, but the ladder still dropped down.

'Ah Harry,' Trelawney said when Harry made his way into the room which was still free of fragrance and excessive heat, 'my inner eye tells me that you were dealing with the pressure of fame.'

'Indeed I was Professor,' Harry said sadly, 'the pressure is so much sometimes I think it might get me.'

'Believe Harry,' Trelawney said dramatically, 'and you will be guided.'

'Thank you Professor,' Harry said as he took his seat next to Daphne and Sadie.

'I swear you always get away with being late, she loves you!' Sadie whispered to Harry who smirked a little.

'How did the autograph signing session go?' Daphne asked with a chuckle and Harry grinned, 'guess who turned up, your little sister!'

Daphne rolled her eyes at this,' Seriously?'

Harry nodded, 'but don't tell her you know, she was all embarrassed. She said she wants us to get married so I can be part of the family.'

Daphne laughed at this, 'Really? She said that to you?' she shook her head in amusement, 'I think she has a bit of a crush.'

'Isn't she going out with that Dennis boy?' Sadie asked quietly as Trelawney started to walk towards them.

'Yeah, I think she is,' Daphne said, shrugging, she didn't talk to her sister often.

'By the way, I'm not going to tell you any details,' Harry whispered to the two girls, 'but I'm getting Neville back for this tomorrow!'

* * *

><p>The next morning Harry made his way down to breakfast and acted like everything was normal. Only Sadie and Daphne were watching him curiously, Daphne had been pestering him all of the previous day to reveal what his prank was, but Harry hadn't said anything about it. He smirked as he jumped up on to the 8th year table and announced to the school.<p>

'Students of Hogwarts! My good friend Neville Longbottom here is a national hero for what he did during the war! And today is your lucky day because he is going to be demonstrating exactly how he killed Voldemorts snake!'

There were oohs and aahs around the hall and it was only then that Sadie whispered to Hermione, 'where are Theo and Draco?'

Hermione frowned as she looked up the table, 'I haven't seen them all morning,' she whispered back.

With a rather elaborate wave of his wand Harry caused a small platform to appear in the centre of the great hall with smoke encircling it. McGonagall was shaking her head in amusement at the Head table. This kind of thing hadn't happened since the Marauders had been at school.

As the smoke cleared it became apparent that there was something on the platform and that was a snake. Or rather it was two people dressed up as a snake and those two people were Theo and Draco. The girls burst out laughing as they realised that Draco and Theo were hissing and waving their arms around in a strange fashion. They were both frowning and when Theo caught Sadie's eye he mouthed, 'help!'

'Compulsion charm,' Harry said quietly to the 8th year table with a smirk. This of course only made them laugh more.

'And now let us welcome our snake killing hero, Neville!' Harry shouted and Neville walked toward the platform with an amused smirk. Once Neville was up on the platform Harry transfigured his cloak into a cardigan, 'and now that Neville is readily dressed in the cardigan of leadership, show us how you killed that snake Neville!'

Neville picked up the foam replica of the sword of Gryffindor that was on the floor and started to hit Theo and Draco with it much to the amusement of the students. Harry grinned and lowered the platform and transfigured everything back to normal.

The 8th year table was still full of the sound of laughter as Neville made his way back over and sat down next to Hannah, shaking his head with amusement.

'Nice try Harry, but my next one will be better,' Neville said with a smirk. Theo and Draco grumpily made their way back over to the table where Sadie and Hermione were crying with laughter.

'I can't believe you put a compulsion charm on me!' Theo said slightly stroppy.

'Don't worry Theo,' Draco said with a slightly evil look in his eyes that Harry hadn't seen directed at him for a while, 'we'll get him back.'

Harry raised an eyebrow at this, 'Bring it on.'

'Oh, we will,' Theo said with an equally evil glance, 'this prank war is so on.'

* * *

><p>Harry and Neville were both wary on Friday, but the day passed quite normally with no pranks at all. This also made McGonagall cautious; a quiet day in a prank war was never a good sign.<p>

When Saturday morning dawned Harry was even more cautious as he and Neville made their way downstairs for an early breakfast before Quidditch practice.

'Do you think their planning something big?' Neville asked Harry as they trudged through the cold and empty school.

'Probably,' Harry said, with narrowed eyes, 'I reckon they're going to do something very Slytherin.'

'Maybe we should team up,' Neville suggested with a glint in his eyes, 'Gryffindors versus Slytherins, whatever they do to us, we'll strike back.'

'I thought we were trying to out-badass each other?' Harry said with a chuckle and Neville shrugged with a smirk, 'we'll agree that we're equally badass but you're a bit more cool cause you beat Voldemort and focus our energies on humiliating Draco and Theo.'

'Sounds like a good plan,' Harry said with a slightly wicked smirk as they entered the great hall and made their way to the 8th year table which was empty apart from Hermione and Sadie, the two early risers of the group.

'Anything?' Harry asked when he and Neville sat down opposite the two girls.

Hermione shook her head, 'All quiet on the Western front...for now, that is.'

Harry chuckled, 'Yeah, I'm paranoid about when they are going to strike.'

'What does that mean? All quiet on the Western front?' Sadie asked with a frown as she looked up from her book, Neville seemed confused too.

'It's a Muggle phrase,' Hermione explained, 'it comes from the First World War. One of the trenches was silent, there wasn't any fighting so the phrase all quiet on the Western front means no sound or that nothing is happening.'

'Oh,' Sadie said as she nodded, 'I guess that makes sense. Muggles have the strangest phrases don't they?'

'I guess,' Harry said thoughtfully as he shovelled some cereal into his mouth, 'but I thought wizards had weird phrases when I came here...like Merlin's saggy Y-fronts.'

'I'm pretty sure than one was unique to Ron,' Hermione said with a laugh and Sadie and Neville both nodded their agreement.

'Well, we'd better get off to training, see you later,' Harry said as he got up and Neville followed. They left and spent the rest of the morning training in the rain, then they had a shower and lunch and spent the afternoon doing homework. The prank they had been waiting for finally struck at dinner that day.

Everyone was eating and enjoying their food when all of a sudden a large white screen was pulled down in front of the head table and a projector buzzed into life at the back of the hall. Harry and Neville shared concerned looks as a 'movie' began to play on the projector.

At first all that appeared was a black screen and then writing began to form on that screen.

'_The Chosen One and his Trusty Sidekick.'_

Harry and Neville's concerned looks amplified at this title. A clip appeared on the screen of Neville walking off with the sorting hat on his head after he'd first been sorted and Harry smiling in the crowd of first years, the caption for this clip was _'the start of a beautiful friendship.'_

Harry was looking at the screen with vague amusement while Neville was staring at it in horror.

The next clip was of Neville standing up to Harry, Hermione and Ron in first year and Hermione hitting him with Petrificus Totalus. The caption read, _'there were disagreements along the way.'_

By now everybody in the hall was laughing at the slideshow, but Neville was still looking quite cautious.

Next came a clip of Neville hanging from the ceiling after the pixies incident in their second year. The caption here read, _'together they made it through the dangers of second year.'_

Neville had now cracked a smile and Harry was chuckling at the slideshow, Theo and Draco were looking quite smug from along the table. The next clip was of Neville's boggart turning into Snape in 3rd year, a clip that made everybody laugh, again there was a humorous caption, _'together they faced their biggest fears,' _and another clip showed Harry getting his terrible Valentines card in 2nd year and blushing furiously.

The next clip was of Neville helping Harry in 4th year by giving him the gillyweed and the caption read, _'they were together through it all...' _as this clip faded out the next one to fade in was of Harry and Neville by the lake, Harry reading and Neville looking for plants while Harry wasn't speaking to Ron, the caption boldly stated, _'it was a friendship that became more...'_

The whole of the great hall was erupting with laughter at this point and Harry himself was wiping tears out of his eyes, Neville was shaking his head in amusement. The next clip to roll was of Harry and Neville having their heartfelt conversation about their parents in the room of requirement in 5th year, but as there was no audio nobody would know what it was about, as Harry patted Neville on the back the caption came up with the words, _'it became a relationship.'_

Next came Neville and Harry fighting together in the Ministry at the end of 5th year and the caption read, _'they fought together...' _a scene of Harry and Neville laughing on their way to the train at the end of 5th year flashed up, _'and loved together...'_

There was then a scene of Neville and Harry talking at Slughorn's Christmas party in 6th year, both boys were dressed up rather smartly and the caption read, _'the first date,' _Harry laughed even louder at this and it was what cracked Neville up too in the end.

What happened next was inevitable, the scene of Neville killing Nagini flashed up and Neville smirked and mumbled to Hannah about how manly he looked. The caption read, _'and then the apprentice became the master.'_

Hermione burst out laughing and whispered to Draco and Theo, 'how do you two know Star Wars?'

'Theo's idea,' Draco whispered back and Theo shrugged, 'I listened in Muggle Studies sometimes.'

Harry scoffed and said, 'I'm still the master, so much cooler and more badass than you.'

Neville was too busy laughing at this point to reply and back on the screen there was now a clip of Harry defeating Voldemort with a caption of, _'and the chosen one reaches his peak,' _at this Daphne sniggered next to Harry and he shot her a playful glare.

The next and last clip was of Harry and Neville meeting for the first time after the battle and congratulating and hugging each other. The clip paused on the hug and the caption faded in, _'the love story of a lifetime.'_

The hall was still buzzing with laughter as the picture faded out and Harry wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his cloak.

'That was brilliant,' he said through his laughter to Theo and Draco, 'how did you do it?'

Draco smirked and replied, 'we got the memories we needed from your friends,' he turned around and winked at Hermione who rolled her eyes, 'and used a potion to transfer them into the projector so we could show them that way.'

Neville was still chuckling as he said to the Slytherins, 'that was a fantastic prank, but don't worry Harry and I will get you back.'

'Did this just become a team battle?' Theo asked with a raised eyebrow and Harry gave him a challenging look and said, 'Yes, yes it did.'

* * *

><p>'Daph, I have a cunning plan.'<p>

Daphne looked up with a frown; she was lying on her stomach on Harry's bed trying to make up some dreams for her Divination homework.

'Okay... do tell,' Daphne said with a slightly amused smirk.

Harry grinned and abandoned his homework, 'Well, Nev thinks I'm on his team and I'm going to stop trying to out-badass him,' he smirked at his girlfriend, 'but what if I turn the tables on him?'

'You mean team up with someone else against him?' Daphne asked with that evil Slytherin glint in her eyes, 'that's very Slytherin of you, Potter.'

Harry made a strange squeaking noise and said to his girlfriend, 'sorry, but when you do that voice with the kind of evil Slytherin glare and say Potter it kind of turns me on.'

Daphne laughed out loud at this, 'hopefully just when I do it.'

'Of course,' Harry said as he kissed her, 'and Draco obviously,' he joked causing Daphne to roll her eyes.

'So, do you have any good pranks up your sleeve?' Harry asked Daphne who grinned wickedly, 'do you really need to ask?'

* * *

><p>After their late talk on Sunday night Harry and Daphne made sure that they were up early on Monday morning. In fact they were up so early that they made it to the great hall before the doors had even opened to serve breakfast.<p>

'Perfect,' Harry whispered to his girlfriend underneath the invisibility cloak. He clicked his fingers and Kreacher appeared with a crack that echoed around the entrance hall.

'Kreacher,' Harry whispered as he took the hood off on the cloak so his head floated in mid-air, 'can you open the doors to the great hall? We're going to play a really great prank on everyone this morning.'

'Of course Master Harry,' Kreacher whispered back as he opened the doors and bowed to Harry, 'can Master Harry please not tell the other house elves what Kreacher did? Kreacher will be punished by Winky.'

Harry chuckled and said, 'I promise not to tell a soul, thanks Kreacher.'

Kreacher bowed once more and vanished with another crack. Harry pulled the cloak over himself and Daphne again and they walked into the hall which was just beginning to get light.

'Okay Daph, go ahead and do the charm,' Harry said with a smirk, Daphne grinned and started to work her magic. Once the charm was done, they locked the doors again and sat down by the doors under the cloak. They didn't have to wait long for the doors to open again and the first people to make their way into the hall.

Unfortunately the charm didn't work straight away because it required two people to walk in together and McGonagall entered the hall on her own, but then the other teachers began to arrive. Sprout was next, but she came on her own too. Then came Filch and Trelawney who walked through the archway together and Harry and Daphne grinned as the charm worked. The moment they'd walked through the archway together their clothes got switched so that Filch was wearing a rather colourful checked dress with high-heeled boots and Trelawney was wearing Filch's old suit.

McGonagall was trying very hard not to laugh and Sprout had burst out laughing. Filch looked down and yelled, 'ah! What the hell?'

'How did this happen?' Trelawney asked curiously. From the head table McGonagall said, 'I suspect this is the next stage of the 8th years prank war. Don't try and magic the clothes away or transfigure them, It will probably only make them worse, just let the charm wear off.'

'How do you know all of this?' Filch asked the Headmistress curiously and at this Trelawney smiled, 'Minerva was a teacher to the Marauders, and I believe James son is very similar to him,' she said as she took her seat at the head table.

'Very similar indeed,' McGonagall agreed and Trelawney chuckled and said, 'he thinks I only give him good grades in Divination because he tells me what I want to hear by being dramatic all the time. He thinks he has me completely fooled, but I know what he's up to.'

McGonagall frowned and asked, 'Forgive me for asking Sybil, but then why do you give him good grades?'

'As much as he would hate to admit it, the boy may have some seer in him. He has a very clear inner eye,' Trelawney said and McGonagall looked sceptical. Daphne was sniggering at Harry who had spent the last few minutes gaping at the head table.

The two pranksters were drawn away from the teacher's conversation when two more people walked through the doors together and got their clothes switched. It was Charlie and Professor. Sinistra. Sinistra ended up in Charlie's baggy fireproof trousers and his equally fireproof and disgusting t-shirt and Charlie ended up wearing his girlfriends skirt, high heels and blouse.

Sprout was now crying with laughter and even Filch and Trelawney had joined in at this, McGonagall's mouth was twitching as she tried not to laugh. Charlie looked up at the head table and asked, 'is my brother around by any chance?'

Sinistra made a face and said, 'Charlie, your clothes smell disgusting.'

Charlie rolled his eyes at this as they made their way to the head table, 'Merlin Aurora, how the heck do you walk in these things?'

'The 8th years prank war,' McGonagall said by way of explanation and Charlie said, 'ah,' and looked around the hall, 'I wonder which corner Potter is invisible in...'

He narrowed his eyes as he and Sinistra sat down and called out, 'Potter! What are you doing under that cloak with your girlfriend?'

Harry and Daphne sniggered at this and Harry pulled the cloak off and shouted across, 'nice skirt Charlie!'

Charlie laughed loudly at this and Harry and Daphne sat down at the 8th year table, 'nice prank! Fred and George would be proud!'

More teachers arrived, on their own sadly and then Hermione and Sadie arrived in the hall, the first students to do so. The girls didn't have it too bad since they were both the same gender, but they looked down with a frown as they realised that their robes and ties had changed colours.

'What the...' Hermione said in confusion, but then she heard chuckling and looked up to see Harry and Daphne at the 8th year table.

'A prank then?' Hermione asked as she and Sadie sat down.

'A good one, don't you think?' Daphne asked, she then said, 'look at some of the teachers.'

Hermione and Sadie burst out laughing when they saw Filch and Charlie. Sadie said through her laughter, 'well at least we only changed house colours.'

Next to arrive were Hagrid and Flitwick who ended up in each other's clothes. It was highly amusing to see Hagrid in robes for once and Flitwick looking quite rough in Hagrid's clothes. As McGonagall explained that it was a prank Harry mumbled to Daphne, 'thank Merlin we decided to put a resizing charm on it.'

At this all 3 girls sniggered. The morning continued with people coming in together and switching clothes. Blaise and Lavender ended up switching clothes, as did Ernie and Justin, then Ginny and Michael, and so it went on. It took forever, but eventually Neville and Hannah walked in together, not realising what was wrong with the door and why so many people were lurking around in the entrance hall. They ended up wearing each other's school uniform, so for Hannah this meant she was wearing trousers and Gryffindor colours, but not only did Neville have the embarrassment of wearing a skirt, he was also in Hufflepuff colours (_**A/N: **_no offence Hufflepuffs!).

'What the hell did you do?' Neville asked Harry as he sat down at the table, staring at his clothes in horror.

'I switched teams,' Harry said with a smirk, 'all is fair in war my friend. Nice skirt by the way.'

Neville narrowed his eyes at his friend, 'you'll pay for this one Potter.'

'We'll see about that Longbottom.'

* * *

><p>'I wasn't doing what you think I was doing Theo!'<p>

'Yeah right, I totally heard you, moaning and everything.'

'I wasn't moaning, I was grunting, in pain because I was exercising.'

'Right, what muscle were you using exactly?'

'Theo I was exercising!'

'With Potter?'

'No, he wasn't even there at the time!'

Theo and Draco were 'arguing' on their way to the great hall about what Draco had been doing that morning when Theo made his way up to his dorm to get him.

'What do you mean he wasn't there? He's never at the hall before us in the morning,' Theo said, smirking at his friend.

'Well he obviously is today,' Draco said as he glared at his fellow Slytherin. It was then as they reached the entrance hall that they realised something.

'Wait...' they both said as they stopped and caught each other's eye, 'Harry was up before us...he's planning something!'

The two boys were even more cautious when they got to the entrance hall and realised it was quite full and people seemed to be afraid to go through the door. In fact there was a line and people were going through it one by one.

Theo scoffed, 'this is stupid, come on Draco.'

'Uh, Theo, do you think we should? It might be a bad idea, what if this is Harry's prank?' Draco asked as he edged slowly after his friend.

'Then it's not a good prank is it? Putting a lot of people in the entrance hall to freak us out,' Theo snorted and grabbed Draco by the arm. Together they walked into the hall and with a pop they switched clothes.

'So this is Harry's prank,' Theo realised as he glanced down; neither of them had changed much because they wore similar clothes.

'Bloody hell Theo; how the hell do you wear these things?' Draco asked as he attempted to walk in Theo's extremely tight school trousers.

'Skinny jeans Draco, they are all the rage,' Theo said as he and his friend made their way to the 8th year table. Draco seemed to be having some trouble walking in Theo's trousers and when they reached the table the others were in hysterics.

'Seriously Theo! These things cut off blood supply to vital...parts,' Draco said as he let out a very unmanly squeal of pain as he tried to sit down.

'Draco do you even wear boxers?' Theo asked as he sat down next to the blonde, 'these things are airier than your average pair of school trousers.'

'Shut up Theo,' Draco said as he rolled his eyes, 'so this was your prank Potter?'

'Yeah, pretty good right?' Harry asked with a smirk.

'You didn't get the worst of it guys,' Hermione chuckled to Draco and Theo, 'Neville's wearing a skirt!'

At this a fresh bout of laughter went around the table and then Draco and Theo had an ingenuous thought and caught each other's eye. Draco went for Harry and Theo went for Daphne, they grabbed the pranksters and carried them to the charmed archway and pushed them through it.

With a loud pop Harry had ended up in Daphne's skirt, high heels and blouse _and _the Slytherin colours which was the worst part. Daphne made a face as she looked down; she was now wearing Harry's trousers and Gryffindor colours, 'Yuck! I'm a Gryffindor!'

'I'm wearing a skirt! _And _I'm in Slytherin colours!' Harry exclaimed in disgust. The others were laughing; Theo and Draco in particular were in hysterics.

'Well,' Harry said with a glance to his girlfriend, 'that kind of backfired.'

'Indeed.'

* * *

><p>There was another quiet day in the prank war, but it was because scheming was going on.<p>

'If he can switch teams, so can I,' Draco was saying to Hermione as they lay in bed together on Tuesday night, 'I have a plan, but I don't know if it will work, want to work with me?'

Hermione laughed, 'Alright, but only as long as it's a fun one that won't embarrass anyone.'

Draco grinned, 'I promise it won't.'

'Okay, then tell me what it is,' Hermione said with a slightly wicked smirk, Draco's grin widened as he filled Hermione in on his plan. They spent the next few hours scheming and brewing a fairly easy potion. The next morning they got up early and sneakily made their way down to the kitchens.

'I'd feel better about this if we had Harry's invisibility cloak,' Hermione whispered as she and Draco finally reached the kitchens.

'Well we don't need a cloak to get around unnoticed, us Slytherins are naturally sneaky,' Draco said with a smug grin as Hermione tickled the pear and the door to the kitchens opened. The moment he saw Draco, Kreacher hurried over to them.

'Master Black! Can Kreacher do anything for you?' Kreacher asked eagerly and Draco nodded, 'we're playing a prank this morning, but we need someone to put this into the pumpkin juice,' he said as he held out a vial of potion.

Kreacher looked at the vial warily and said, 'Kreacher is not sure he should be doing this, Headmistress and Winky will be angry.'

'No they won't Kreacher,' Hermione said with a smile, 'it's a funny prank, it will make people happy.'

'Kreacher likes happiness,' Kreacher said thoughtfully and with another contemplative glance at the vial he took it.

'Thanks Kreacher,' Draco said with a grin, Kreacher bowed and then Draco and Hermione left the kitchen.

'That was easy,' Draco said happily as he and Hermione made their way toward the great hall.

'Don't you think it's kind of wrong to get house elves to do our bidding?' Hermione asked with a slightly troubled frown.

'No,' Draco said simply and got a glare from Hermione, he then said, 'they like being told what to do! It's what their made for, they wouldn't know what to do if we made them make all their own choices all of a sudden.'

'You sound like Ron,' Hermione said as she wrinkled her nose. Draco made a face at this, 'Do I? In that case, I love house elves, lets free them all.'

Hermione tried to glare at him, but ended up chuckling at this as they reached the entrance hall just as McGonagall was opening the doors for breakfast. The Headmistress narrowed her eyes at the couple.

'I see you two are up early today.'

'Yes Headmistress,' Hermione said in her best 'I'm a sweet innocent student' voice with a smile, 'we just wanted to start this lovely Wednesday off with an early morning breakfast.'

'Miss Greengrass I was not surprised to see dragged into this prank war, nor was I surprised at your involvement Mr. Malfoy, but you Miss. Granger I did not expect you to be involved.'

Hermione smiled slightly at this, 'this is my last year at school Professor, I might as well enjoy it.'

'How very Lily Evans of you,' McGonagall said fondly with a small smile as she walked towards the head table.

Draco and Hermione spent the early part of the morning catching up on homework as they waited for the others to arrive. Once it got to a normal time of morning and the 8th year table began to fill up Hermione and Draco began to smirk slightly. They had set a time release charm on the potion so that when the hall was full it would happen at the same time.

'Why are you two smirking?' Theo asked Draco and Hermione suspiciously.

'We aren't smirking,' Hermione said with the worst poker face ever.

'Yes you are,' Neville said, poking his head around from the other side of Theo, 'what are you planning?'

'It's too late,' Harry said with narrowed eyes from across the table, 'Draco you were up ridiculously early this morning...'

'They've already done it,' Neville said, looking around the hall suspiciously. Hermione sniggered as the clock on the wall hit 8.30am. The time-release charm on the potion caused it to go off and anyone who had drunk pumpkin juice which was almost everyone, changed appearance with a pop.

All of the Gryffindors in the hall suddenly had pale green skin and pure silver hair, the colours of Slytherin house.

All of the Slytherins were decked in the Gryffindor colours with light red skin and pure gold hair.

Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were also in each other's colors with the Ravenclaws having bright yellow skin and jet black hair. The Hufflepuffs had light blue skin and bronze hair. The hall looked hilarious. The charm had also worked on the teachers which made for an interesting breakfast.

Draco and Hermione were in hysterics, they had had some pumpkin juice themselves, after all it was all for a laugh.

'Aw Hermione, I'm green,' Harry whined as he looked at his skin and his best friend giggled.

'This is pretty cool hair,' Lavender said as she looked at the pure silver hair, 'I wanna keep this!'

'It only lasts for a few hours,' Hermione said through her chuckles.

'The gold hair is pretty cool too actually,' Sadie said in amusement, 'but having red skin is kind of unsettling.'

'Unsettling? I look like I have liver poisoning!' Michael said with a laugh, his skin was bright yellow.

'See we play nice pranks that make people laugh,' Draco said with a purposeful glare at his friends.

'Yeah, but that was only because Hermione probably said she wouldn't help you unless you made it a nice prank,' Harry pointed out as he went back to eating his breakfast.

'Well, yes, that is partly true. My original plan was to make all of the Gryffindors hair turn to snakes...' Draco admitted, trailing off as he caught Hermione glaring at him.

'Oh yeah, and that's so nice,' Harry said sarcastically, Theo smirked and said, 'it isn't nice, but it would have been funny!'

Daphne laughed and agreed, Harry and Hermione both rolled their eyes and mumbled simultaneously, 'bloody Slytherins.'

* * *

><p>Thursday once more passed quietly, and it was fast becoming clear that there seemed to be a day's break in this prank war. After all it took a day to prepare a really good prank. Friday passed without any pranks too however and by the time it got to the party that night pretty much everybody had forgotten about the prank war.<p>

Harry was away with Daphne getting the butterbeer as per usual and some people were still in the common room, but most people were off doing their pre-party things or whatever it was they did on a Friday night. When they got to the portrait to the common room Harry got suspicious instantly.

'Potter, prepare yourself,' Snape said the moment he and Daphne got within hearing distance.

'For what?' Harry asked with a frown.

'The Weasley and the Lily look-alike have a trap behind my portrait. I can feel the magic flowing through me,' Snape said causing Harry to snigger. From the portrait behind them James called, 'don't do it in public Snape!'

Snape glared at the portrait and with an amused shake of his head Harry gave the password and climbed through the portrait hole. A voice called out, 'Daphne Greengrass!'

Harry frowned and looked around for the source of the voice, Daphne followed him through the portrait and it shouted, 'Harry Potter!'

'What the hell?' Daphne asked, she had jumped at the sound of the voice. In the corner Susan and Ginny were sniggering. Harry raised an eyebrow at the two redheads and made his way over to them, 'what have you two done?'

'Oh you know, just put a charm on the portrait hole,' Ginny said with a chuckle.

'What kind of charm?' Daphne asked them curiously.

'One that shouts out the name of the last person you had sex with,' Susan admitted with a grin, Harry and Daphne both chuckled at this initially, but then Harry got serious.

'That might not be such a good idea, what if someone's cheating on someone and that reveals it to everyone?'

'Then they shouldn't be cheating in the first place,' Susan said simply, a dark look in her eyes.

'Susan, nobody deserves that though,' Daphne said in a whisper and Ginny cut in, 'it won't, I programmed it so it won't reveal secrets like that. If someone's in a relationship it will say their partner's name.'

'Thanks Ginny,' Harry said with a smile and Ginny nodded, 'you are right Harry, it isn't fair.'

'I guess so, sorry Harry,' Susan admitted with a wry smile.

As the night went on the portrait charm became quite amusing although at first there weren't many surprises as most of the people were together. The party got going and everybody forgot about the door for a while. Then Charlie and Sinistra came into the common room and the door shouted out their names.

There was some whistling and Theo shouted, 'Go Charlie!' to which he got slapped by Sadie.

'Is this another prank?' Charlie asked in amusement and Ginny grinned, 'yes it is.'

'You have too much of the twins in you little sister,' Charlie said, ruffling Ginny's hair like she was a little girl. Ginny made a face at him and Charlie said, 'oh by the way I got sent here to tell you all to shut up, but I quite like these parties so have you got any butterbeer?'

There was some laughter as Charlie and Sinistra once more joined in with the party. The next disruption to the party was Filch who had also come to stop the party.

'Sybil Trelawney!' the door shouted and from where she was standing with Sadie drinking butterbeer Melody made a face of disgust, 'aw Dad that is an image I did not need to see!'

Filch looked around in confusion trying to figure out where the voice had come from and what it had done. Susan informed the caretaker what the voice had been, but before he could start shouting at the 8th years too much the portrait hole opened and the new, younger Lockhart climbed through. Melody bit her lip as the portrait shouted, 'Melody Norris-Filch!'

Lockhart seemed confused and Filch looked ready to seethe. It made for 10 minutes of amusement as Filch yelled, 'I'll kill you Lockhart!' as he started to chase him around the common room. Once Filch had been shoo-ed out of the common room the party only got louder as it always did.

Eventually McGonagall made her way into the common room to shout at them all and stop the party, but the moment she walked into the room the portrait hole shouted, 'Kingsley Shacklebolt!'

There were many groans around the room and Harry said, fairly loudly, 'That is one image I never wanted to see!'

Daphne sniggered as McGonagall realised what had happened and went very red in the face. She then shouted at them all, very loudly, and ordered them to bed before storming from the common room. As the party died out and everyone started making their way up to their dorm rooms Susan and Ginny hi-fived on the stairs with amused grins.

* * *

><p>The pranks didn't stop, in fact if anything more people got involved. After the party on Friday night there was a nice quiet weekend. They were now into April with the exams coming up in May so the quiet weekend wasn't exactly fun because it involved spending the whole weekend revising for exams. It wasn't something Harry usually did, but these were the most important exams he was ever going to do and he really wanted to get the grades he needed so he didn't get kicked out of Auror training.<p>

The next prank came on Monday morning. Harry and Draco woke up around the same time and both sleepily got dressed, they didn't even really look at each other until they got close to the door to their dorm.

Both boys yelped in surprise when they saw each other and rushed to a mirror. They were both wearing make-up and after 30 minutes in the bathroom trying to scrub it off it was apparent that the make-up wasn't going to budge.

'I bet they all teamed up to do this,' Draco said in annoyance as he and Harry made their way downstairs to the common room both looking like idiots.

'Who? The girls?' Harry asked and Draco nodded as they arrived in the common room to discover that Theo and Neville had make-up on too. This only confirmed their suspicions and the girls gave it away by practically crying in laughter when Draco and Harry emerged into the common room.

'It won't wash off until the end of the day,' Sadie choked out through her laughter and Theo glared at her, 'Sadie! How could you do this?'

'Theo you said it would be funny if all the Gryffindors hair turned to snakes,' Hermione said as she stood with her arms crossed, 'we think you wearing eyeshadow and lipstick is pretty funny.'

'This so isn't funny,' Harry grumbled and Draco agreed, they both glared at their girlfriends, who didn't stop laughing, and stomped loudly out of the common room only to get laughed at by the portrait of Snape and the Marauders.

* * *

><p>The next day another prank team struck. When Harry emerged into the entrance hall, thankfully free of make-up, with Daphne, Draco and Hermione, the group all stopped and stared at what they saw.<p>

Hanging in the middle of the entrance hall was an enlarged and extremely edited version of the picture Dean had taken of Draco teaching Harry how to dance. It was edited to look like Draco was wearing a suit and Harry was wearing a wedding dress and a large crowd were gathered around laughing at the image.

Draco hid his face in his hands and Harry actually hit his head against the wall, '_How _is anyone going to take us seriously as Aurors?' Harry asked as he shook his head at the image.

'Shame,' a teasing voice said from behind them and Draco and Harry spun around to see a very smug Theo with an extremely amused Neville lurking next to him.

'Okay, this is taking it a little too far now,' Draco said, for the first time actually offended by a prank, 'it was fun before, not embarrassing and damaging to our future careers.'

Theo made a face, 'Give it up Draco, you're just annoyed that we got one over on you.'

'No,' Harry said backing Draco up, 'this is too far.'

Hermione nodded, 'Seriously, this really could affect their career, you should take it down.'

'We can't,' Neville piped up, he looked quite guilty, 'it has a sticking charm, it will stay there for a month.'

Harry sighed and continued through the hall into the great hall for breakfast. Daphne hurried after him and Draco said slightly annoyed, 'nice one Theo.'

As he too made his way into the hall Hermione said to the boys, 'I know you two were just joking around, but maybe this 'war' should end here. We all know people only get hurt in wars.'

Without waiting for a response she too made her way to the great hall, leaving behind her a guilty Neville and a miffed Theo.

* * *

><p>Hermione had hoped the pranks would stop there but they didn't. When she woke up the next morning another prank was on the notice board. It was a list stuck to the board with a sticking charm that detailed Theo's conquests.<p>

Only a few people had seen it before Theo, and when the Slytherin made his way down in the morning and saw a small crowd around the notice board he did what he usually did which was push through the crowd to see what they were all looking at, and then he saw the list.

'_The Lucky Ladies!_

_~ Tracey Davis_

_~ Lavender Brown_

_~ Tessie Pritchard_

_~ Isabelle Chambers_

_~ Susan Bones_

_~ Mandy Brocklehurst_

_~ Pansy Parkinson_

_~ Cho Chang_

_~ Katie Bell_

_~ Luna Lovegood_

_~ Aurora Sinistra_

_~ Zara Zabini_

_~ Angelina Johnson_

_~ Alicia Spinnet_

_~ Megan Jones_

_~ Ginny Weasley_

_~ Sadie Cauldwell'_

'Merlin!' Theo exclaimed as he examined the list, 'is it only 17? I thought it was way more than that!'

'Theo you bastard!' Harry shouted angrily the moment he saw the list, 'Ginny! When the hell was that?'

'Last summer,' Theo admitted, not expecting the reaction that came next from Harry.

'You wanker! We were practically together then!'

'No you weren't! You were off screwing Susan and Cho and everybody under the sun that summer!'

'Yeah well apparently that's all you've ever done your whole life!' Harry said bitterly as he left the common room with a concerned Daphne hurrying after him.

Before Theo could get over the shock of Harry's reaction he was punched in the face by Blaise who said angrily, 'I can't believe you slept with my Mother Nott!'

Next forward to verbally attack Theo, 'You slept with my fucking girlfriend! Don't tell me you didn't Theo because I was together with Pansy until she died, you definitely did it while we were still dating!'

'Draco...it wasn't like that-' Theo tried to say, but Draco shook his head angrily, 'it was exactly like that Theo! You screwed her over and me, your best friend, because that's just what you do!' He stormed from the room with Hermione at his heels.

As the crowd dispersed Theo was cornered by Sadie, she didn't look pissed off like the others had, but what she was doing was so much worse, she was crying.

'You lied to me about so much Theo,' Sadie said sadly, her voice shaking, 'you denied everything about Sinistra and you did sleep with her all along! All you are is a wanker who wants to have sex with as much people as possible, and I don't want to be remembered as the idiot who was fooled by your one year of honesty and married you.'

Sadie slid off her engagement ring and pushed it into Theo's hand. He gaped after her as she rushed from the common room still in tears. He looked around the common room and saw Isabelle and Tessie laughing. He swore loudly and stormed up to his dorm room.

This had gone too far, the prank war was now officially over.

**TBC **


	52. Is it Too Late to Apologise?

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 52 – Is it Too Late to Apologise?**

* * *

><p>Theo didn't leave his room for the rest of the day; he skipped all of his classes. As annoyed as they were the others had to admit that they were slightly worried, although Sadie hadn't said a word to anyone all day.<p>

In the end it was Harry who made his way up to Theo's dorm first and spoke to the Slytherin.

'You're a wanker Theo, but you were right, I was screwing around that summer and Ginny and I weren't together,' Harry said as he sat down on the edge of Theo's bed, it was clear to see he'd been crying.

Theo didn't even bother looking up at Harry, 'No offence Harry, but can you please just piss off?'

'Theo, you've got something fantastic in Sadie. If you'd just tell people the truth and be honest you'd be a happier person. You need to stop being an arrogant git and accept how good what you have is and hold onto it,' Harry said, ignoring Theo's rude behaviour, 'if you don't you're going to become like Snape. A sad, bitter, pathetic lonely old man who once had something amazing but let it go and regretted it for the rest of his life.'

'Whatever I did or didn't have with Sadie, I fucked it up,' Theo said, clenching his hand tightly around the ring cutting into his palm. He unclenched it and showed Harry the ring which was now coated in blood from where Theo had cut himself clenching it, 'she gave me the ring back.'

'Everyone says the Slytherins are supposed to be cunning, if you were a proper snake you'd find some way to make Sadie take that ring back, but as it is your nothing but a worm,' Harry said and of course this earned him a punch to the face. He didn't flinch as he casually wiped the blood from his mouth.

'Don't talk to me like that,' Theo hissed angrily and Harry said calmly, 'Do you want to know how to get out of this situation? You say sorry to every person you've screwed over in the past. Yeah Theo you have been a git and you've slept with a lot of people, but this is your chance to right all of those wrongs.'

'What do you know about righting wrongs?' Theo asked bitterly as he angrily wiped his eyes and turned away from Harry.

'I might not know much about righting wrongs Theo, but I never got a chance to right a lot of mine. A man who was practically a Father to me died and I never really got to say sorry for being a bastard to him before he died,' Harry said, getting slightly worked up, 'didn't what happened to Dean and Tracey teach you anything? The war might be over but we live in a dangerous world, if you lost Sadie tomorrow wouldn't you want her to go knowing you loved her?'

Theo sighed and rested his head in his hands, 'Of course I would Harry, but I don't know if she wants to hear that at the moment.'

'Trust me Theo, she wants to hear it more than anything but she wants to be able to believe it and she won't until you give up on this manly facade and be honest with her,' Harry said truthfully.

Theo groaned, 'Where do I even start?'

'I usually find the beginning is as good a place as any,' Harry said somewhat cryptically and at this Theo snorted and said, 'Merlin, now you just sound like bloody Dumbledore.'

Harry only chuckled and said, 'Well like him or not, he knew what he was talking about, trust me.'

'In that case, I'll start with you. Sorry Harry,' Theo said trying to sound sincere but looking slightly awkward. Harry raised an eyebrow at his friend, 'that will do, and Blaise will probably buy it, but you'd better get more heartfelt for Draco and Sadie.'

Theo managed a weak chuckle at this, 'Draco's going to be harder than Sadie,' he muttered and Harry laughed, 'yeah, you might well be right there.'

'Thanks Harry, and sorry for being a wanker,' Theo said as Harry got to his feet, the Gryffindor smiled at his friend, 'I forgive you Theo.'

Theo nodded as Harry left the dorm room. He looked down at the ring and cast a cleaning charm on it then slipped it into his pocket. He took a moment to gather his thoughts, Harry was right; this was a good chance to right his wrongs.

* * *

><p>Theodore Nott did not often wander the halls of Hogwarts alone, he usually had company, but at the moment everybody hated him. After composing himself he decided to go and find Blaise and apologise. Harry had let him borrow the Marauders map which he'd spent 10 minutes admiring before even starting his search for Blaise. Eventually he found him and Lavender on the map, they were in the owlery.<p>

Theo had a lot of tension he needed to release so the fairly long jog to the owlery helped him out a lot; he stuffed the map back in his pocket as he got to the steps and slowed to a walk. He found Blaise and Lavender sitting outside on the steps talking and even though it was past 9pm and it was cold outside, they were both just wearing t-shirts.

Blaise didn't bother moving when he saw Theo, but Lavender walked away to give the two friends some privacy.

'Hey,' Theo said somewhat awkwardly.

'What are you doing here Theo?' Blaise asked, he sounded fed up.

'Um, well funny you should ask that-'

'I'm not in the mood for any of your bullshit Theo, either say what you're gonna say or go,' Blaise said, giving him a glare.

'Okay,' Theo began with a deep sigh, 'I know I've been a complete wanker, but I really am sorry about what happened.'

'What did happen? But spare me the details please,' Blaise asked, watching his fellow Slytherin carefully.

'Well, remember that time I came to visit you in the summer after 6th year?' Theo asked and Blaise nodded, Theo continued, 'Your Mother kind of...I don't know what she did, I guess it was like how Harry explained the Veela thing with Gabrielle. I only really remember it in flashes.'

Blaise gave Theo a long hard penetrating look. It felt a bit like Blaise was staring into Theo's soul and Theo said to himself, _'why is everyone acting like fucking Dumbledore today?'_

'Okay Theo, I forgive you this time. It wasn't your fault, she kind of does that to most men that come anywhere near her,' Blaise said with a roll of the eyes, 'I was more pissed that you kept it from me, my Mother told me about it ages ago. I mostly used it as an excuse to hit you to be honest...'

'Oh, okay,' Theo said, slightly taken aback by this, 'so we're good now?'

'Yeah, we're fine,' Blaise said honestly, 'just don't do it again, yeah?'

'Deal, I'm staying away from your house, no offence.'

'None taken.'

As Theo walked away from the owlery he passed Lavender and said, 'Its okay, you can go back now.'

Lavender raised an eyebrow at him, 'are you friends again?' she asked.

Theo smiled at this, 'yes, we are, but stay away from his Mother.'

'Right...' Lavender said completely confused as Theo began to jog back towards the main castle.

* * *

><p>Theo's next job was going to harder than apologising to Harry and Blaise combined. He had to apologise to Draco who happened to be on the astronomy tower. Theo smirked as he hatched a plan, he started his journey to the astronomy tower, he had to admit, it was much easier with Harry's map. It meant that he knew which passages to take and who was hiding around the corner or down the next corridor, not that he ever got caught anyway.<p>

When he eventually reached the top of the astronomy tower Draco didn't bother turning around to look at him.

'Draco, I'm a bastard,' Theo admitted, this was the most sincere he'd been in his life, 'I really am, and I don't deserve a friend like you. I know you hate me right now, but can you please just think about what we've been through together?'

'Does what we've been through together even mean anything to you Theo?' Draco asked angrily as he spun around to face the other man.

'Of course it does,' Theo said, 'I wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for you Draco.'

'Yeah, you wouldn't, and you haven't exactly taken that as a blessing have you?' Draco asked bitterly and Theo sighed, 'No, I haven't,' he said honestly.

'Theo you're my best friend, and you're the one person I can always rely on, but you've screwed up today,' Draco said, tears looked like they threatened to fall from his eyes as he leant against the railing, 'do you even know what date it is?'

'Sure, it's April the 15th,' Theo said and it was only then that his eyes widened, 'shit, Draco! I'm so sorry, today would have been your anniversary with Pansy.'

'I can't believe you slept with her,' Draco hissed angrily, 'when did it happen Theo?'

Theo looked down, he was pretty certain he'd lose Draco over this one, 'it was during the war. You were gone and even when you were there Draco you weren't there for her emotionally, you were a wreck.'

'So you decided to be there for her when I couldn't?' Draco asked angrily, trying to hide his tears, 'is that how it was Theo?'

'No!' Theo exclaimed loudly, glaring at Draco, 'You weren't there Draco! She needed you and you weren't there! She was trying to turn to the light, but she needed help and you couldn't give it!'

'Theo, there is more to this than meets the eye isn't there?' Draco asked, shaking his head in disbelief, 'you had feelings for her!'

'I did,' Theo said, he was doing what Harry said, but this whole honesty thing didn't seem to be working out that well, 'Sadie was screwed up over what was going on, people were torturing her Draco! And I could barely even have a conversation with her, and Pansy was alone too, so we talked a lot.'

'She was my girlfriend Theo!' Draco yelled and this only caused Theo to yell back, 'but you never treated her like it! You treated her like a chess piece you could screw around with! You say you hate Weasley for what he did to Hermione but back then you were worse than that! Draco you might like to think you were together for 4 years but you never mention that 2 year gap when you were screwing around with Daphne behind her back!'

'There is no excuse for screwing your best friend's girlfriend!' Draco screamed and to this Theo screamed back, 'I was in love with her Draco! For fucks sake I loved her!'

After this confession it took Theo a moment to get his breath back and Draco took a moment to take in what Theo had said.

'I watched her die too; you weren't the only one, I saw it too,' Theo brushed the tears from his face, 'I tried to do everything to save her, but I couldn't! And I was at the funeral and you didn't even notice! It wasn't because of her; it was never because of Pansy! It was because of your problems, until Hermione changed you it was only ever about you! You were a selfish bastard!'

Draco didn't seem to be able to find the words to reply to this, he stared at Theo in shock and once Theo had his breath back he asked, 'Do you know how she died Draco?'

'She was killed by an Auror in a duel,' Draco replied, he wasn't bothering to wipe his tears anymore.

'No she wasn't,' Theo said, as the tears spilled from his eyes, 'she saw Dawlish go for you and she stepped in front of the killing curse aimed at you. She died for you, and you didn't even love her.'

'I did love her!' Draco screamed at Theo, 'of course I loved her Theo! She was the only person who knew me, she knew everything about me and she accepted me and loved me even for all of my flaws! She still loved me when I became a death eater! She was the only person who I let myself cry in front of! I loved her and I was going to propose to her after the war! So DON'T YOU DARE TRY AND SAY THAT I DIDNT LOVE HER!'

'I LOVED HER TOO DRACO!' Theo shouted just as loudly with tears in his eyes.

'You didn't carry her coffin to the grave Theo,' Draco said quietly, his eyes burning, 'you didn't have to sit with her crying Mother all day! I grew up with her, I knew her for longer than I knew you, she was my best friend!'

Theo and Draco were both breathing heavily now.

'I thought I was your best friend,' Theo said, the hurt in his voice clear, 'we grew up together too, we were like brothers.'

'Yeah, we were once,' Draco said as he turned back to the night sky.

'So that's it then?'

'I guess so.'

'After 17 years of friendship you're just going to throw it all away,' Theo asked weakly.

Before Draco could reply both boys jumped as they heard music playing from somewhere lower in the tower.

'_I can't even look in your eyes. We agreed that this wouldn't be easy, but now we're going nowhere in time. _

_Don't make me choose between you and what we're fighting for; we all will lose if we give up in our efforts for sure. _

_And I know it's been such a long time since we've just been friends and not soldiers on the front line of a war that we were born into, but we have to do this together._

_Don't leave me.'_

Draco still didn't turn around and Theo was quite embarrassed that he had tears in his eyes from the song and the fact it seemed his friendship with Draco was crumbling right before his eyes.

'_Now we know even the greatest of heroes have their moments of compromise. But in the end we choose how we live and I need you here right by my side._

_Don't make me choose between you and what we're fighting for; we all will lose if we give up in our efforts for sure. _

_And I know it's been such a long time since we've just been friends and not soldiers on the front line of a war that we were born into, but we have to do this together._

_Don't leave me._

_You know you're the only one I need, I can't do this without you, can't you see? You know you're the only one, don't leave!_

_And I know it's been such a long time since we've just been friends, and not soldiers on the front line of a war that we were born into.'_

As the song stopped Draco still didn't turn around to look at Theo. Both of them were thinking the same thing, _'Harry...'_

There was silence between the two Slytherins.

'Draco, the war is over. You can stop living as if your life is in danger,' Theo said gently.

'No, I can't because I'll never be the same,' Draco said just as softly.

'Neither will I,' Theo admitted, 'I saw people I loved dying, I nearly saw you die twice. I can't do that again.'

'Theo you practically died in my arms in the final battle,' Draco said quietly and his voice broke slightly, 'do you think I want to see that again?'

'I'm sorry about everything that happened Draco, I really am, but one thing I can't lose is you. You're the person who helped me through everything, you were the one who was there for me when I was coping with having no Mother and you were there when I hated my Step-Mother for moving in, and you were there when my half-sister was born and I didn't know how to deal with it.'

Draco finally turned back around and sighed, 'Theo, I'm sorry too. You're right, I wasn't there for Pansy during the war, and I was selfish.'

'I still shouldn't have slept with her, feelings or not,' Theo reasoned and at this Draco gave him a small nod.

'I know you and Harry are good friends now Draco,' Theo said quietly looking down at the ground, 'but I never intend on watching you dying again, and to do that I need to be your Auror partner.'

There was a moment of silence and Theo looked up just in time to catch Draco's eye, his fellow Slytherin nodded, 'if we get any choice in the matter Theo, I want to be your partner.'

Both boys gave each other a small nod and then after a moment of slightly awkward silence they walked the short distance towards each other and hugged.

A shout from below drifted up.

'Are you two having sex up there?'

Theo and Draco both smirked at this, and shouted down at the same time, 'shut up Potter!'

'Shall we?' Theo asked and Draco nodded with an amused grin, 'let's do it.'

The two boys glanced down and saw Harry's head sticking out of a lower window. They grinned at each other and conjured up a snake which soared down and landed around Harry's neck, the Gryffindor shrieked like a girl and the sound of girls giggling could be heard.

'Ah,' Draco said with a smile, 'just like old times.'

Theo grinned and put his arm around Draco, 'do you ever think we act a bit like a couple?'

'We basically are a couple Theo,' Draco said as if this were obvious, 'just without the sex.'

'So are we back together?' Theo asked and Draco laughed, 'yeah, I suppose we are. But speaking of back together, whats happening with Sadie?'

'She gave me the ring back,' Theo said sadly, 'and broke up with me.'

'And what are you going to do about it?' Draco asked, patting his friend on the back.

'I don't know, I need to at least try and apologise, but I don't even know where to start,' Theo said with a sigh, he felt a pounding headache coming on.

'Show as much raw emotion as you did with me for a start,' Draco said, 'I haven't seen you that emotional since you were 6 years old when I stole your favourite hippogriff cuddly toy and dropped it in the lake.'

'I still cry for that toy,' Theo joked causing Draco to laugh, 'seriously mate, try and fix things with Sadie, if you don't you'll regret it for the rest of your life.'

'You sound like Harry,' Theo grumbled and Draco rolled his eyes at this, 'you've got to stop using jokes to hide your feelings.'

Theo merely sighed at this and Draco said, 'by the time we get back Sadie will be in her dorm anyway so you should probably give her the night to sleep and calm down a little, talk to her tomorrow morning.'

Theo nodded, 'I will, thanks Draco.'

Draco smiled at him, 'hey what are friends for,' he said.

'Aw, isn't it sweet? Look it's the happy couple!'

Draco and Theo rolled their eyes at each other as they reached the room Harry had been hiding in; with him were Daphne and Hermione.

'Thanks for the soundtrack,' Theo said sarcastically and Draco asked with a smirk, 'how did you like the snake?'

'Oh the snake, very funny,' Harry said sarcastically, 'just like old times eh? Shame I can't talk to them anymore.'

At this Theo and Draco sniggered and Harry rolled his eyes, Daphne and Hermione chuckled too and Hermione smiled at her boyfriend, 'I'm glad you two made up.'

'Did you hear everything?' Theo asked Hermione who nodded, 'most things, but I knew about Draco and Pansy anyway, did Sadie?'

'Yeah,' Theo replied honestly, 'I told her everything, until tonight she was the only one who did know.'

'So you have been fairly honest with her, why weren't you honest about Sinistra?' Harry asked curiously as they all made their way back to the common room.

'She asked me not to tell anyone, I mean if it got out she could lose her job. If that list goes any further and McGonagall finds out she probably will,' Theo said with a sigh, 'as much of a wanker as you all think I am I do keep my promises.'

'It's true,' Draco said with a smile, 'you do keep promises.'

'Aw,' Harry and Hermione said at the same time, they smirked and sang, _'and they called it puppy love.'_

'Stop with the cheesy Muggle songs,' Draco said, although he was vaguely amused.

They laughed as they made their way back to the common room. Theo didn't laugh; he couldn't, not yet, not when he was still without Sadie.

* * *

><p>Theo didn't sleep at all that night, he sat up in bed mulling over how he was going to apologise to Sadie and how he was going to get her back. He spent so long going through everything he had ever done to her and all the ways he had screwed up and when his alarm buzzed to tell him it was 7am he couldn't have been more glad. It had been one of the longest nights of his life.<p>

When Theo got to the common room Sadie had just climbed through the portrait hole, he rushed out after her and ran down the stairs taking them two at a time. When he did catch up with her it was just before she made it onto the grand staircase.

'Sadie, wait, please!' Theo called and he knew exactly how desperate he sounded, but for once he didn't care, he didn't care about how he looked or sounded to anyone apart from Sadie.

At first he didn't think that she would stop, but she did. Theo jogged to catch up with her and when she turned around he felt his heart drop in his chest as he saw the dark bags under her red bloodshot eyes.

'Can we talk Sadie, please?' Theo begged, praying she would at least give him a chance, another one. Theo knew deep down that he didn't deserve that chance.

'Why should I talk to you Theo?' Sadie asked, her voice wasn't chirpy like it usually was. She sounded emotionless and fed up, 'all you would do is fill me with more lies that I'd stupidly eat up.'

'Sadie I did lie about Sinistra, but I haven't lied about anything else, I promise, I've told you everything,' Theo said honestly, his voice breaking, 'please just let me explain, I'm practically begging you.'

'It's kind of pathetic Theo,' Sadie said with a bitter glare.

'I know it is,' Theo said honestly, 'but I don't care how pathetic it is if it will make you at least let me explain. If you choose to still hate me after that then I'll let you go, but please Sadie let me explain first.'

Sadie sighed and pressed her fingers against her forehead, 'Fine,' she said as she threw her hands up into the air. She followed Theo into an empty classroom and once they were in Theo shut the door and turned around. Sadie was standing watching him with her arms crossed over her chest.

'I'm a massive screw up, I know that. I also know that I'm a complete bastard and that I definitely don't deserve a girl as perfect as you,' Theo began as he walked toward her, 'but I do love you Sadie, I love you so much, and you've given me a chance and I've completely blown it, I know that. I'm not going to make up any excuses for the way that I am, I could say it was because I had a screwed up childhood but then so did Harry and look how he turned out. I know all you've ever wanted was for me to let you see the real me and I've tried so hard to let you see that. You are the only person who knows me inside out, apart from maybe Draco.'

'I clearly don't know you that well,' Sadie said with a glare, 'or I'd have known about Sinistra. Did Draco know about that one?'

'No, he didn't,' Theo replied honestly, 'nobody did Sadie. I didn't tell you because I didn't trust you. She asked me not to tell a soul because if even one person found out and someone overheard then she could have lost her job and as much as you hate me and think I'm a bastard right now I keep my promises Sadie, I always have done.'

'Did you love her?' Sadie asked, the anger and bitterness gone now, all that was left was sadness.

'No,' Theo replied simply.

'Did you ever really love me Theo? Or was this just an elaborate attempt to try and do something serious with your life and I was the only girl stupid enough to try it on?' Sadie asked, tears now falling from her eyes.

At this Theo lost his temper, 'I can't believe that you would even suggest that! Of course I love you Sadie, I've never loved anyone more than I love you! I can't even put what I feel for you into words, it's just there and it's constant and you make me so happy! But you don't see that! Since we got together I've been entirely truthful with you and completely loyal, but you find out about one little lie and you give me back the engagement ring? I think if anyone has a right to question love it's me! How could you just hand it back to me like that? Did it mean NOTHING to you?'

By this point both Sadie and Theo were crying and not bothering to hide it or stop it.

'Theo how can you be so clueless?' Sadie shouted angrily, and Theo was taken aback by this, she was always so quiet, she very rarely shouted, 'you mean EVERYTHING to me! When I saw that I thought the worst, all the scenarios flashed through my mind, I thought you hadn't told me because you loved her or because it had been a long-term thing! I knew about Pansy, and I couldn't understand why you wouldn't tell me about her!' Sadie was crying as she shouted, 'I wish I could believe your always completely honest with me but your never serious so how am I supposed to know if your ever sincere about anything?'

'Sadie, I'm only 18 years old at the end of the day,' Theo said quietly, 'I'm going to make mistakes, and so are you, we all are. I'm not sure of much, and I do joke around, but with everything I have I am so sure that I want you to marry me. I can't imagine where my career will be in 10 years or what I'll be doing with my life, but I can imagine you, you and me. The only thing I can see in the future is you, you in a wedding dress, you and me surrounded by all of our crazy kids, that's all I want, it's all I'm sincere about and I swear to Merlin I mean that.'

The raw emotion that Theo had let spill out the night before with Draco had come out again during Theo's speech to Sadie and it did the trick, but it had also been completely from Theo's heart. Sadie broke down into tears and ran into Theo's arms.

'I'm so sorry for giving you the ring back Theo, I was so stupid,' Sadie sobbed as she clung onto Theo as if for dear life.

'Don't be sorry, it was my fault, I'm sorry too,' Theo whispered as he closed his eyes and held her tight. When she pulled back from the hug Theo pulled the gleaming ring out of his pocket and Sadie smiled, her face was red and her eyes were puffy but she still managed to look beautiful.

'So what do you say Sadie? Take me back?' Theo asked, dropping down onto one knee, 'because I can tell you right now that you are the only person I want to spend the rest of my life with.'

Sadie nodded, still crying as Theo slipped the ring back onto her finger, she wrapped her arms around him once more and he held her tight until her sobs subsided.

* * *

><p>'Do you think they will make up?' Hermione asked Draco quietly as she bit her lip, they had just seen Sadie and Theo disappear into an empty classroom together.<p>

'I hope so, he's happier with her than he's ever been in his life,' Draco said with a sigh.

'I mean they were the first to get engaged, don't you think it's a bit young?' Hermione asked and Draco shrugged, 'I don't know, I think it was right for them at the time.'

'And when do you think it will be right for us?' Hermione asked, this alarmed Draco and Hermione added quickly, 'metaphorically of course.'

Draco smiled and kissed Hermione on the cheek, 'you'll know when it's right.'

'How?' Hermione asked curiously and Draco replied with a smirk, 'I'll give you a ring.'

'Haha, very funny,' Hermione said dryly, although she did smile at her boyfriend, 'what about Harry and Daphne?'

'I don't know about them,' Draco said thoughtfully, 'can you honestly see them ever settling down and getting married?'

'Oi! I want 3 kids' thanks very much!'

The slightly miffed female voice belonged to Daphne who was walking behind them with Harry who was smirking slightly.

'Really?' Draco asked in surprise and Daphne said, 'yeah, and for your information Black, I bet we get engaged before you and Mione.'

'Daphne,' Harry said with some amusement, but mostly exasperation, 'don't bet on whose going to get engaged first.'

Daphne rolled her eyes, 'fine,' she said and Harry chuckled, 'and to think you were scared of relationships when I met you.'

Daphne merely smiled at this and took Harry's hand, 'of course, if I have those kids with Harry he won't get any choice in naming them.'

'Oi!'

'You want to call them after a bunch of dead people!' Daphne exclaimed and Draco sniggered, 'Albus Severus...'

'Imagine if he named a kid after all the people who've died...' Draco said thoughtfully, 'Albus Severus Cedric Sirius Remus Lily James...'

Harry hit Draco around the back of the head for this and said playfully, 'Oh shut it Draco.'

Draco said contemplatively, 'Sadie Nott sounds right, but Daphne Potter just sounds weird.'

'So does Hermione Black,' Harry said from behind, 'I mean it sounds like she's marrying Sirius! You'll have the same name as my Godfather!'

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, 'oh come on Harry, we both know Hermione Weasley sounds weirder.'

'Gross!' Draco agreed and Harry rolled his eyes, 'Ginny Potter never really sounded right either, or Cho Potter actually.'

'Hermione Krum...' Daphne teased and Hermione rolled her eyes again.

'So Mione is Draco going to give kids normal names?' Daphne asked as she skipped ahead and grabbed Hermione's arm. Draco fell back to walk with Harry but they were still all walking together.

'Well he's probably going to want to call them all after bloody star signs,' Hermione said to which she got the reply, 'Cassiopeia and Elladora are nice names!'

'I think they should invent a new law that men shouldn't be allowed to name children,' Daphne stated matter of factly and Hermione laughed loudly at this, 'I completely agree.'

'Merlin, what have we let ourselves in for?' Harry asked as he listened to the girls starting to discuss baby's names.

'I don't know,' Draco admitted with a smile, 'but I can't wait to find out.'

* * *

><p>When Sadie and Theo walked into the great hall towards the end of breakfast holding hands there was a round of applause and some of the 8th years even stood up to cheer. Sadie blushed, she didn't like all of the attention, Theo would usually have lapped it up, but he just put his arm around Sadie and led her towards the 8th year table.<p>

'So it's back on,' Hannah said happily when Sadie sat down and flashed her ring.

'Yeah,' Sadie said sheepishly, 'and we've set a date.'

'When is it?' Hannah asked excitedly and Sadie replied with a grin, 'The first Saturday in July.'

'Oh my gosh!' Hannah squealed as she hugged her friend, Sadie couldn't stop smiling.

'That's great Sadie,' Daphne said happily as she too jumped up and hugged Sadie, from the other side Hermione congratulated and hugged Sadie. Even Lavender shouted her congrats from across the table. Susan hurried over from the other end of the table to get the gossip and she too then hugged and congratulated her friend.

Sadie smiled at them all, 'I actually wanted to ask you something Daph,' she blushed a little, 'I wondered if you'd be my maid of honour.'

'Are you kidding?' Daphne asked with a grin, 'of course Sadie! It would be an honour,' she said happily.

'And I wondered if you guys would be bridesmaids,' Sadie said to Hermione, Hannah and Susan. Hannah squealed and said she would love too; Susan grinned and got a little teary as she said of course she would. Hermione smiled broadly at Sadie, 'of course I will Sadie, it means a lot that you would ask.'

Next to Sadie, Theo smiled as she told her new Maid of Honour and Bridesmaids the news. He turned to Draco who was sitting next to him, 'So Draco, what do you say? Will you be my best man?'

Draco was a little embarrassed about the fact he got slightly teary at this, but he nodded, 'of course I will Theo, you can count on it.'

Theo nodded happily and patted his friend on the back. Neville sniggered across the table and Harry whispered, 'Oh shut up you, you'll be the same when I ask you to be my best man,' he said with a wink.

Neville smirked, 'but I won't anymore, because now I know you're going to ask.'

Harry rolled his eyes at this and Neville asked jokingly, 'does this mean I have to ask you to be mine now?'

'If you're going to be like that I'll ask Draco,' Harry joked and Neville laughed, 'nah, of course I'm going to ask you to be my best man Harry, I just need to get up the courage to ask Hannah to marry me first.'

'Do you have the ring yet?' Harry asked quietly while Hannah was busy conversing about the wedding with Sadie and Theo.

Neville shook his head and replied, 'No, I'm going to get it this weekend. Do you want to come with me?'

Harry smiled at his friend, 'Of course,' he said as he glanced to where the girls were all chatting excitedly, 'I might have a bit of a look around myself,' he added with a wink as he stood from the table.

Daphne looked up when she saw him stand and smiled at him; he smiled back and gave her a vague wave. Maybe it was time to start thinking more seriously about his relationship with Daphne.

'So Harry, Nev, Blaise,' Theo said as he too got to his feet, 'fancy being my groomsmen?'

Harry grinned, 'Sure thing Theo,' he said and Neville smiled, 'of course Mate.'

'As long as my Mother isn't invited, sure,' Blaise said with a smirk and Theo laughed happily.

Life was good.

**TBC **


	53. The Secrets of Hogwarts

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 53 – The Secrets of Hogwarts**

April marched on and when Saturday rolled around Harry found himself being cornered by Daphne.

'Where are you and Neville going today?' Daphne asked with narrowed eyes.

'Shopping,' Harry said simply as he pulled on his winter cloak.

'What kind of shopping?' Daphne asked curiously and Harry rolled his eyes, 'you wonder why I never surprise you woman,' he joked.

'Your ring shopping, aren't you?' Daphne asked with a slightly smug smile.

'No, Neville is ring shopping,' Harry corrected as he pulled on his shoes, 'I'm assisting, don't get too excited.'

'I wasn't getting excited,' Daphne said with an amused smile, 'but I think it's sweet that your helping Neville.'

'He is my best friend,' Harry said as he got to his feet, he kissed Daphne on the cheek and said, 'have a good day with the girls,' he said as he jogged down the stairs into the common room.

'Hi Harry,' a chirpy voice said the moment Harry came out of the staircase. Harry frowned as he looked to Hannah who smiled and handed him a cup of coffee and a doughnut, 'so, where are you and Neville going today?'

'Han are you trying to bribe me into telling you where we're going?' Harry asked with a chuckle as he accepted the bribe.

'Maybe,' Hannah said with a smirk and Harry laughed, 'you've spent too much time around Slytherins, and as nice as the bribe is we aren't doing anything fancy,' Harry said, he was a good liar these days, 'we're just going to check up on progress with the Prophet.'

'Oh well, worth a try,' Hannah said as she walked away. Harry shook his head after the Hufflepuff and then Neville made his way over to him, 'Ready to go?'

'Yep,' Harry said as he and Neville left the common room and made their way down the spiral staircase out of the tower.

'Our girlfriends are far too nosy,' Harry said in amusement and Neville chuckled at this, 'did Hannah try and bribe you this morning?'

'Yes she did,' Harry said as he pulled the doughnut in half and handed one half to Neville, 'Daphne questioned me this morning, I threw her off the scent by saying I'm just helping you, which is technically true.'

Neville laughed, 'You don't plan on buying anything, do you?'

'Nah, but it's good to be prepared,' Harry said simply and Neville smiled back. The two boys made their way out of the castle and then apparated to Diagon Alley. Neville strode ahead and made his way into the jewellers, but Harry held back slightly. This was a big step, walking into a jewellers to look at engagement rings so Harry took a moment to catch his breath and followed Neville inside.

'So what kind of thing are you looking for?' Harry asked Neville as they walked along a cabinet full of engagement rings.

'Something simple,' Neville said thoughtfully, 'I think that's what she would like.'

'Gold?' Harry asked but Neville didn't reply, 'Nev?'

'That one,' Neville said to the woman behind the desk. She smiled and handed him the ring, Harry peered over Neville's shoulder at the ring. It was simple; it was gold with a single diamond in the centre.

'Well, it's definitely simple,' Harry said, he knew Daphne wouldn't be as easy to please.

'But look inside,' Neville said as he showed Harry the inside of the ring, the word 'forever' was engraved there with a smaller diamond where the 'o' should have been.

Harry smiled, 'I think it's perfect for Hannah,' he admitted and Neville grinned and said, 'Exactly.'

Harry walked away as Neville paid for the ring; he was just nosily looking around in the cabinets when a ring caught his eye. He was immediately drawn to it.

'Would you like to have a better look Sir?' the woman behind the desk asked and without thinking Harry said yes. The woman handed him the ring and he examined it more carefully. It was gold with a diamond cluster in the centre. To either side of the cluster there was a line of diamonds; it was the perfect mix between fancy and simple. Harry knew Daphne would love it.

He stared at the ring for a moment, he thought about it, he thought about whether or not he wanted forever with Daphne but deep down he knew he did. Harry smiled up at the woman and said, 'I'll take it.'

When Harry and Neville met up again outside the jewellers Neville was surprised to see a package in Harry's hands.

'You bought something?' Neville asked in surprise and Harry nodded with a slight smile, 'I may or may not have bought an engagement ring.'

'Seriously?' Neville asked as they shrunk their packages and made their way to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink.

Harry shrugged, 'I saw the perfect ring,' he said with a smile.

Neville smirked, 'you better not steal my thunder.'

'I won't,' Harry said with a chuckle, 'when are you planning on proposing?'

'I don't know yet, after the prom maybe, but I don't want to do it with a big audience,' Neville said thoughtfully as they entered the pub, 'I don't think Hannah would like that, she hates having all of the focus on her.'

'Good for you Neville, I'm really happy for you,' Harry said with a genuine smile.

Neville grinned broadly back, 'Thanks Harry.'

* * *

><p>When Harry and Neville got back to the common room thankfully the girls were out so it made sneaking upstairs and hiding their purchases all the easier, although Harry did make sure to perform all the necessary checks to make sure Daphne wasn't hiding under his invisibility cloak in the common room or his dorm room, he wouldn't have put it past her to do such a thing.<p>

With the ring safely stowed away in his trunk for the moment until he had time to find a better hiding place, Harry smiled slightly to himself. He'd asked Neville to keep it to himself and he knew he would, he didn't plan on telling Draco or Theo about the ring, for now he wanted to keep it as secret as possible.

As the week wore on Harry didn't get enough time away from Daphne to hide the ring, but then on Tuesday evening he had a genius idea. He waited until very late at night and when Daphne finally fell asleep he grabbed the ring, pocketed it and made his way out of the dorm room and through the common room. Once he was outside in the corridor he opened up the Marauders map and scanned it. He needed to go down the spiral staircase, out of the 8th year tower to the east side of the 7th floor, on to the grand staircase and then back onto the 7th floor on the west side to reach his destination. Usually that was an easy type of run at 3am in the morning, but for some reason there were many obstacles tonight. Harry smirked, _'Just like old times,' _he thought to himself, he then had a slight pang of pain at the fact Ron wasn't with him at the moment, sneaking around in the morning. Harry paused at the thought, he didn't often miss Ron, but they had been best friends for a long time, despite what he had done to Teddy.

'Harry!'

Harry jumped and the invisibility cloak slipped slightly, he spun around to see that Hermione had just made her way onto the 8th year landing and had collided with him. The moment she realised she'd collided with something invisible she knew it was Harry, of course.

'Hermione!' Harry said, as his heart rate started to return to normal, 'why are you out of bed so late?'

Hermione blushed at the question and replied, 'Everyone is so relaxed Harry! They all try and get me to stop studying, but you know me, I have to study or I'll never pass so I've been sneaking into the library and studying late at night.'

Harry rolled his eyes and chuckled at this, 'I'll never change you Hermione,' he said fondly, 'do you want to sneak out with me?'

'Where are you going?' Hermione asked curiously.

'McGonagall's office first, and then somewhere else, hopefully,' Harry said with a grin, Hermione frowned, 'Harry...what if McGonagall's awake?'

'She won't be,' Harry said with a smile, 'come on Hermione, for old time sakes, me and you sneaking around under the invisibility cloak.'

Hermione smiled a little sheepishly and Harry added, 'it's the middle of April now and we leave at the end of June, we're not going to get many more chances.'

'Oh alright,' Hermione said with a grin as Harry lifted the cloak up and let Hermione come under it with him, because they weren't too tall they could fit under it together just, but they had to hunch.

'Do you remember when we could stand under this and stand our full height without our feet being seen?' Hermione asked with a small smile and Harry smiled too, 'yeah, its little things like this I'll miss when we leave.'

'Me too Harry,' Hermione said as she kissed Harry on the cheek. Together they made their way down the spiral staircase out of the tower. They narrowly avoided Slughorn on his patrol of the 7th floor as they came out of the tower, but they didn't run into any problems on the grand staircase. Once Harry and Hermione made their way into the west side of the 7th floor they had a pretty big obstacle.

Filch was muttering and cursing outside of the office because one of the gargoyles was slightly damaged.

'I'll get you for this Peeves, you'll be out of this school for once and for all,' Filch muttered angrily as he swept up the mess.

'How do we get past Filch?' Hermione asked in a whisper, Harry smiled; it really was just like old times.

'I don't know, but we need to distract him, and we need the password to the office,' Harry whispered back, Hermione smirked, 'I'm the Head Girl remember? I know it.'

'Hermione, you are fantastic,' Harry grinned as he glanced back over to Filch and tried to formulate a plan to distract him. Harry heard the distant noise of smashing on the lower floor and steered Hermione back onto the grand staircase and down onto the 6th floor.

They found Peeves in a disused bathroom on the 6th floor banging on pipes and flooding the place, 'taking a leaf out of Myrtles book, don't you think?' Harry asked in a whisper to Hermione who chuckled at this.

'Alright, here goes,' Harry said quietly, he raised his voice to a harsh, loud whisper and said, 'Peeves...'

Peeves spun around and stopped making noise instantly, 'what...who? Who said that?'

'It is I, the Bloody Baron,' Harry said as Hermione shook with silent laughter next to him, 'and I demand you to remove Filch from the 7th floor.'

'Oh your baron, your holiness, your lordship,' Peeves said as he bowed in mid-air, 'I am your loyal servant sir.'

'I have business there Peeves, I need him far away,' Harry continued as Hermione was not only shaking with laughter, but also crying with laughter. She hadn't been with him when he'd done this before, it had been him and Ron, _'Ron,' _there was another pang of loneliness at that thought.

'Of course your lordship,' Peeves said quickly and he zoomed away. Harry let Hermione have a moment to catch her breath.

'Oh Harry that was fantastic!' Hermione said through her laughter as they made their way back onto the grand staircase, 'Ron told me about it the last time, but I can't believe he bought it!'

Harry grinned, 'I am my Father's son at times Mione,' he said simply as they reached the west end of the 7th floor where Filch was still sweeping and cursing. There was then an almighty crash from a few floors down and Filch dropped his brush and hurried away, still cursing Peeves.

Hermione hi-fived Harry and said, 'that was great!'

As fast as they could under the cloak they hurried to the gargoyle. Hermione whispered, 'Loch Ness,' and the gargoyle sprang to life and moved to the side. Harry and Hermione made their way silently up the staircase and through the wooden door into the office which was thankfully empty.

Harry made sure to lock and barricade the door silently to McGonagall's quarters and then he took the cloak off and walked over to Dumbledore's portrait.

'Dumbledore,' Harry said quietly and the old man in the portrait immediately opened his eyes and smiled, 'Ah, Harry, I wondered when I might be seeing you.'

Harry smiled at this, 'I came to ask your advice on something.'

'Ask away my boy,' Dumbledore said, he peered at Harry over his half-moon glasses and Harry couldn't help but think, _'some things never change.'_

'Well, I have a very sneaky and curious Slytherin girlfriend,' Harry said with a chuckle, 'and I need a place to hide her engagement ring, somewhere she won't find it.'

Dumbledore smiled, it was as if he had read Harry's mind, 'the mirror of erised is located in a secret tower that very few students know about, however I trust you and Miss. Granger to keep its location to yourself.'

Harry nodded and Hermione did too, a secret tower? This was their biggest adventure yet.

'The tower is called 'The Founders Tower' and it is so named because when the castle was built there was an extra tower. Of course there are still some towers which are not in use anymore, but this tower seemed to have completely vanished. It was only known about through writings from the time of the founders,' Dumbledore explained and Hermione watched the former Headmaster in amazement, 'the tower was where the founders lived, but after the last founder died it was shut off out of respect to them. It is believed that the sorting hat was created in the tower. After the founders had died the entrance to the tower was lost.'

'How could it be lost?' Hermione asked, 'surely it would be able to be seen from the outside?'

Dumbledore smiled fondly at Hermione, 'Ah, but that is where the secret lies Miss. Granger, when the castle was first built the largest towers did not yet exist, nor did the 6th or 7th floor. These were installed by the founder's children when the population grew.'

Hermione's eyes widened, 'so the tower is internal to the school even though it is a tower?'

Dumbledore's eyes sparkled, 'Indeed, when Helena Ravenclaw added another wing to the castle she inadvertently blocked off the entrance to the tower.'

'So how did it get found?' Hermione asked quickly, she was intrigued.

'Hogwarts was damaged during the goblin wars long ago, the damage to the castle was mostly fixed, but the 7th floor was not in use during that period. By the time repairs were to be conducted the goblin wars were long over,' Dumbledore explained, 'the Headmaster found a door through a knocked down wall while repairing the floor and followed it up to the founder's tower. As soon as he realised what it was he made the entrance secret out of respect to the founders. Ever since then the secret has been passed down from Headmaster to Headmaster.'

'Wow, that's amazing,' Hermione said, her eyes were still wide, 'but why are you telling us Professor?'

Dumbledore's eyes still sparkled as he smiled and said, 'I suspect one of you will succeed Minerva.'

Harry and Hermione shared a smile at this and Dumbledore continued, 'in fact I find it highly likely that at some point in the future you Harry will be Headmaster, and you Miss. Granger will be the Deputy Headmistress, so this secret would always be known to you, just perhaps not so soon.'

'So how do we find the entrance?' Harry asked excitedly.

'On the 7th floor on the east side you will find a secret entrance, in fact it is very close to the east tower which you know as the 8th year tower,' Dumbledore informed them, 'are you aware of the secret rooms in that part of the castle?'

'Uh, well there is the Poltergeist passage, and the Hall of Hexes,' Harry said, he knew of both rooms but he had never really used them.

'Indeed, the Poltergeist Passage is so named because it was the corridor where poor old Peeves died,' Dumbledore said, 'the Hall of Hexes housed a duel between two students, one of those students was Peeves. He stumbled out into the Poltergeist Passage after being hurt in the duel and died,' Dumbledore shook his head sadly, 'and tales as sad as this somehow did not make it into the history books.'

'That's awful,' Hermione said sadly, 'poor Peeves.'

'Are you aware of a room known generally as the 'Room of Runes'?' Dumbledore asked, Hermione shook her head straight away, but Harry consulted the marauders map and replied, 'it's on the map, but there isn't a door into it, and all I could see was a wall.'

Dumbledore smiled almost mischievously, 'the 'Room of Runes' is the key to finding 'The Founders Tower'. What may seem to be an ordinary wall is not so ordinary, and the codes on the walls of the 'Room of Runes' will tell you how to find the Founder's Tower.'

'Is that all you're going to tell us?' Harry asked as he gaped at the portrait.

Hermione rolled her eyes, 'Harry, of course he can't tell us! It's a riddle, a puzzle; we have to figure it out for ourselves.'

Harry rolled his eyes back at Hermione and said, 'but that's difficult.'

Dumbledore's portrait chuckled and Hermione said in an exasperated tone, 'you wanted one last adventure together, this is it,' she shot him a challenging look and Harry grinned, 'Alright let's do this, thanks Professor.'

They then heard movement from McGonagall's quarters so they quickly pulled the cloak on and hurried from the office and back onto the 7th floor.

Harry glanced at the map and after making sure the path was clear he and Hermione set off back to the east side of the 7th floor.

'So, you're proposing to Daphne?' Hermione asked with a smirk as they made their way up a staircase on the grand staircase.

Harry smiled at his best friend, 'yeah, I bought the ring on Saturday, only Neville knows though, and you now, I'm trying to keep it a secret.'

'Can I see the ring?' Hermione asked and Harry nodded, he pulled the little black box from his pocket and handed it to Hermione, who opened it and gasped at the ring, 'Wow, Harry that's perfect, Daphne will love it.'

Harry grinned even more broadly at this, 'I know, I wasn't planning on buying anything, but I saw it and I couldn't resist,' he said as he slid the box back into his pocket.

'I'm really proud of you Harry,' Hermione said with a big smile as she kissed him on the cheek once more.

'Thanks,' Harry said happily as he and Hermione made their way along the east corridor of the 7th floor. Harry was now focusing on the map and running his finger along it.

'Here is the poltergeist passage,' Harry said quietly, Hermione looked at the map, in between the entrance to the North tower and the East tower there were a series of rooms she didn't know existed.

'I knew they were there, I found them one night,' Harry said with a small frown, 'that room there is just a long corridor that isn't used leading to a room, it seemed pretty ordinary, it was just a room with some chairs and stuff in it.'

'Well we know why it was shut off now,' Hermione said, 'it was where Peeves died.'

'Yeah,' Harry said thoughtfully, his finger was still hovering on the map, 'and the other room coming off that corridor is a disused bathroom, I think it was the Head Boy and Head Girls bathroom at one point.'

Hermione chuckled and Harry looked to her with a frown, 'what do you know?'

Hermione smiled at her friend, 'I know why it's not in use anymore,' she admitted, 'the year your parents were Head boy and girl Dumbledore decided a shared bathroom wasn't a very good idea.'

Harry burst out laughing at this, 'That's brilliant, how did you find that out Mione?'

'Sirius told me, that summer we spent at Grimmauld Place,' Hermione said with a somewhat sad smile. Harry smiled fondly at Sirius's memory and looked back down at the map. Hermione looked down too and traced her finger along the main corridor, 'Well there's the North Wing,' she said thoughtfully, 'but that's just a study hall, I doubt the Room of Runes is hidden off of there.'

'It's here,' Harry said, he pointed at the map and showed Hermione a long, thin room on the map, 'that's the room of Runes and the uncharted big bit behind it is obviously the founder's tower.'

Harry and Hermione walked slowly along the main corridor until they reached the wall that the Room of Runes was through. They both looked up at the same time, but the wall was completely blank and ordinary.

'There isn't even a tapestry,' Hermione said with a sigh.

'Or a mirror, that's how you get into the secret Poltergeist Passage,' Harry said as he and Hermione continued to stare at the wall for a moment. They walked closer to the wall and Harry noticed a small engraving, 'what does that mean Hermione?'

Hermione frowned, 'I can't see through the fabric of the cloak,' she whispered.

'Take it off then,' Harry whispered back, 'I'll keep a look out,' he pulled the cloak off of them both and let Hermione get a proper look at the marking on the wall.

'Harry, this is an ancient rune,' Hermione whispered, 'it means blood.'

Harry frowned, why would there be a rune for blood on the wall? It was only then that it hit him; it could be blood magic, like the cave. Without telling Hermione what he was doing or even thinking about it too much he muttered a spell that cut into his hand and then he pressed his hand onto the rune. Hermione gasped and whispered, 'Harry! What are you doing?'

Before Harry could reply the wall jumped into life and where the blood rune had been a panel pushed out of the wall, 'it's blood magic, I saw Dumbledore use it once,' Harry explained.

Hermione frowned as she looked at the panel on the wall, 'it's some kind of puzzle,' she said, Harry looked at it and realised it was related to runes, 'I can't help, I've never taken Ancient Runes.'

'I know,' Hermione said as she got immersed in the puzzle, 'just make sure nobody catches us.'

'That I can do,' Harry said with a chuckle as he looked down at the map to make sure nobody was coming their way.

Harry expected Hermione to take a while to crack it, but he'd been examining the map for less than 2 minutes when she exclaimed, 'I've got it!'

Harry spun around just in time to see the wall fold back into itself, rather like the wall in Diagon Alley did when you accessed it through the Leaky Cauldron. Harry and Hermione made their way into the secret room and gaped at it in amazement as the wall folded shut behind them. Every surface of wall was covered in runes apart from one section opposite of the entrance they'd come in through which was in the shape of a door.

'How the hell are we supposed to figure out what to do to open that door?' Harry asked as he looked at the vast amount of ruins covering the walls.

'Well it's a code,' Hermione said as she walked slowly around the room, 'to gain access to the tower we'll need to figure out something to do with each house.'

'What do the runes on the walls say?' Harry asked, he felt completely useless.

'Well these ones,' Hermione said pointing to the left wall, 'are the traits of Gryffindor, the ones over there,' she pointed to the right wall, 'are the traits of Slytherin,' she spun around and pointed to the wall with the door to the tower on it, 'those ones are the traits of Ravenclaw, and the ones behind us are the traits of Hufflepuff.'

'What about the writing along the bottom?'

'That part isn't so easy to translate, it's really old runes, nobody can fully translate them,' Hermione admitted as she bit her lip, 'I can make out the words 'quest', 'tower', 'wit', 'knowledge' and 'test'.'

'So it's some kind of test of our wit and knowledge to get into the tower,' Harry guessed, he stared at the door in confusion as he tried to figure out what that meant.

'Harry...' Hermione realised, 'some of these panels can be pushed in,' she frowned and stepped forward, 'do you think we need to spell something out?'

'I don't know,' Harry said truthfully, 'can you read out what the letters are?'

'Some are numbers, but yeah, okay,' Hermione said as she looked more closely at the wall, 'ew, 4, rea, nncoecetd, otn, yb, lbodo, utb, yb, a, nwat, rfo, a, lpcae, fo, elnagirn, nad, a, ssipaon, ofr, oknldegew.'

Harry frowned, 'Hermione...it's a code! We 4 are...connected not by blood...but by a want for...a place of learning...and a passion...for knowledge.'

'Harry, you're a genius!' Hermione said loudly as she pushed the panels into the wall in the right order. Once the last panel had been pressed into the wall, the door shaped part of the wall slid back revealing an entrance.

Harry strode ahead eagerly with Hermione at his heels. They made their way up a stone staircase onto a landing at the top. There were 6 doors leading off the large landing.

'_~ Quarters of Godric Gryffindor_

_~ Quarters of Salazar Slytherin_

_~ Quarters of Helga Hufflepuff_

_~ Quarters of Rowena Ravenclaw_

_~ Shared Common Room_

_~ Study/Library/Research Lab'_

'Harry, where should we go?' Hermione asked once she had read the plaque on each door, 'Dumbledore didn't tell us which room it was in.'

'The common room,' Harry said immediately, he stepped forward and turned the handle. The door pushed open with a creak and the fire and the lights on the wall roared to life.

'Wow, this is exactly the same as the 8th year common room,' Hermione said as she stopped in her tracks upon walking into the room.

'It is a bit creepy,' Harry agreed, he looked around the room, 'there it is!'

Hermione watched curiously as Harry walked over to the Mirror of Erised and pulled the box out of his pocket. He stood in front of the mirror and closed his eyes. Hermione didn't know what he was doing, but she was astonished as she saw the box vanish from his hand. Harry opened his eyes and grinned, 'it worked!'

'What exactly did you just do?' Hermione asked in amazement.

'Do you remember in 1st year how I had to go through and face Quirrell alone?' Harry asked and Hermione nodded, 'well Dumbledore hid the Philosophers Stone in the mirror so that you could only get it out if you wanted to find it, but not use it, so I got the stone out of the mirror when Quirrell couldn't.'

'So you just hid the ring in the mirror,' Hermione realised with a smile, Harry smirked, 'you've rubbed off on me Mione, I'm not quite as clueless and daft as I once was.'

Hermione hooked her arm through Harry's and they made their way out of the tower, 'you aren't clueless or daft Harry, you never have been.

* * *

><p>As April continued to slowly drag by and the exams started to get closer everybody got more depressed, but then one day was worse than the others...<p>

On Sunday the 26th of April certain 8th years were more subdued than others.

Harry made his way down to the common room with Daphne who had been quiet since they had woken up. Harry had asked her what was wrong, but she'd only faked a smile and said it was nothing, he knew not to push her so he had nodded and accepted what she said as true.

When they reached the common room and Harry realised that Sadie, Theo and Draco were just as quiet and subdued he knew for sure something was up. Harry frowned as Daphne said she wasn't going to go to breakfast and instead he and Hermione left the common room.

'It would have been Tracey's 19th birthday today,' Hermione explained to Harry the moment the portrait hole had shut behind them.

'Oh,' Harry realised, he frowned, 'should we do something? To comfort them?'

Hermione shook her head, 'There isn't anything we can do Harry, they need to do this alone, all we can do is be there for them if they need us.'

Harry smiled slightly at Hermione, 'when did you get so wise?' he asked. Hermione gave him a sad smile and said honestly, 'when we left to live in a tent.'

As Harry and Hermione sat at the 8th year table in the great hall they were silent as a mark of respect to Tracey. They then made their way back upstairs to the common room where the Slytherins were still sitting staring silently into the fire.

Harry and Hermione spent the next little while trying to do something to draw their friends out of their sad state. They tried to talk to them, but got no response, they tried to get them out of the castle.

After Harry had asked them if they wanted to go to Hogsmeade or out on the bikes and had gotten no response to that either he gave up.

'I've had enough of this!' Harry exclaimed as he stood up angrily in front of them, 'I didn't know Tracey as well as you did, but I know she wouldn't want you to all wallow around all day! She would have been 19 years old today, she didn't have that chance but you all do! You have a life, you have the chance to get older every year and achieve new things! So stop wasting your day sitting around being miserable and celebrate being alive!'

The speech brought them all out of their dazes, or whatever it was that they were in. Draco, Daphne, Theo and Sadie all looked up at Harry.

'Shut up Potter, you don't know what this feels like,' Theo said bitterly.

This only made Harry angrier, 'I don't know what it feels like? I got through my Godfather's birthday, it was Remus Lupins birthday in March and I loved him like a Father, but did you hear me moan about it? Lots of people I love have died, you should be lucky that you've just lost the one person and you have to pull yourselves out of this.'

'Harry's right,' Daphne said, her voice was quiet and weak, but she stood up, 'Tracey wouldn't want us to spend her birthday being miserable.'

Sadie nodded; she wiped her eyes and stood up, 'No, she would want us to enjoy it.'

'If she were alive, what would you do today?' Harry asked the group.

'We'd play Quidditch, we always did on Tracey's birthday,' Draco said as he caught Theo's eyes. Theo sighed and nodded, 'she loved it.'

'Alright then, that's what you'll do today,' Harry said, 'in fact, that's what we'll all do. I'll see you on the pitch in half an hour.'

The group dispersed to their dorm rooms to get changed, but Daphne stuck by Harry's side, 'Thank you Harry,' she whispered with slightly teary eyes, she kissed her boyfriend on the cheek and hurried up the stairs.

From where she was watching Hermione smiled, 'with speeches like that you'd make a good Minister, never mind a Headmaster,' she teased.

Harry chuckled and sat down next to her, 'Minister? No. But I think I'd like to be Headmaster one day,' he said as he smiled into the distance. Hogwarts was his home, he imagined a part of it would always be in his heart and he'd love to return to it one day.

* * *

><p>The day after what would have been Tracey's birthday and the impromptu Quidditch game, everybody was in higher spirits as they made their way down to the great hall for breakfast together.<p>

The day started off spectacularly ordinarily as the group sat down and started eating their breakfast. The moment the day got less ordinary was when the post arrived and three identical owls made their way to the 8th year table and dropped three identical letters in the laps of Harry, Neville and Hermione. A similar owl made its way over to the Gryffindor table and dropped a letter in front of Ginny. A 5th owl made its way to the Ravenclaw table and deposited a letter on Luna's lap.

Hermione and Neville frowned as they opened their letters, but as Harry opened his he had a fairly good idea that it had something to do with the memorial for the one year anniversary of the war. After all May was creeping up on them quickly and the letters were definitely from the Ministry. As Harry looked down to his letter he realised his hunch was confirmed.

'_Dear Mr. Harry James Potter,_

_I am writing to you today on behalf of the Minister for Magic. As I am sure you are aware we are approaching the one year anniversary of 'The Battle of Hogwarts'. In addition to this on May 2__nd__ this year we will be celebrating one year of peace amongst wizards, muggles and creatures alike. _

_The Ministry of Magic cordially invites you to a Ministry ball in honour of yourself, and several other heroes of both the Great Wizarding War and the Second Wizarding War. This ball will be held on Saturday the 1__st__ of May and will begin at 7pm. We would consider it an honour if you, along with certain other war veterans would open the ball. If you accept we would invite you to a meeting and practice session beginning at 6pm on Friday the 31__st__ of April in the Ballroom suite on level 3 of the Ministry of Magic. You are welcome to bring a guest to this ball. _

_In addition to a ball there will also be a memorial service held at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to remember those who died in both wars and particularly the students who died in 'The Battle of Hogwarts.' It would be much appreciated if you could prepare a speech for this event, but this will be covered at the afore mentioned meeting._

_All of our best wishes,_

_The Minister for Magic's Office'_

At the bottom of the letter was Kingsley's handwritten signature.

'What does yours say?' Harry asked Hermione and Neville, but before they could reply Ginny approached the table and sat down next to Harry. She frowned and asked, 'Did anyone else get this letter?'

'Yeah,' Harry said as he showed Ginny his, 'did they invite you to the ball?'

Ginny nodded, 'and asked me to open it with other war veterans.'

'That's what mine said too,' Hermione said and Neville added, 'and mine.'

'I think it's an honour,' a new voice said as Luna approached the table and sat down next to Ginny, 'I've never been to a Ministry Ball before.'

'Didn't you go to the one at the end of the war Luna?' Hermione asked, Luna shook her head, 'No, I was busy fixing my house with Daddy.'

'Well you didn't miss much,' Harry joked with a smile, 'it's a lot of speeches,

some dancing and talking to lots of annoying Ministry workers.'

At this Luna just smiled and said, 'I like dancing, I better go and find Colin to tell him about this.'

With that Luna skipped away from the table, Harry chuckled after her, 'I still think Luna's perspective of the world is great.'

'She's a bit odd though, isn't she?' Daphne asked, not meaning to be nasty.

'She's brilliant,' Ginny said with a grin as she watched the Ravenclaw leave the great hall.

'She is. Anyway, my letter also asked if I'd give a speech at the memorial service on the 2nd of May at Hogwarts,' Harry said with a dark look, he didn't like remembering the darkness of the previous year.

'You give good speeches,' Hermione said, she could tell Harry wasn't thrilled about the idea.

'That doesn't mean I like giving them,' Harry said and at this Hermione and Daphne shared exasperated glances.

'So they want the four of us to open the ball as war heroes,' Ginny summarised, she rolled her eyes, 'we can't exactly say no to Kingsley after all he's done for us, can we?'

'No, and I wouldn't want too,' Hermione said honestly, 'I think it's a good idea, and although I hate being celebrated as some kind of hero as much as the rest of you, I think we have a duty to turn up to a ball and do a dance, it's not like they are asking a lot of us, is it?'

'You're right Hermione,' Neville said, 'and I actually quite like the whole war hero thing.'

The others laughed at this and Harry smiled, he was honoured to be asked to be a part of the proceedings, but he really hated giving speeches and although he could dance now he didn't like doing it, especially in front of an audience.

Daphne smiled at him and slipped her hand into his under the table, 'Hey, it will be okay. Like you said, it's a chance to celebrate life.'

'Thank you,' Harry whispered as he kissed her lightly. He thought about the ring hidden in the mirror of erised in the lost tower of the founders and found himself grinning much to Daphne's bemusement. At this point in his life he felt luckier than ever before, and in that moment he didn't care about the speeches or the publicity because he had Daphne by his side and if she said yes when he gave her that ring (and he was fairly sure she would) then he would have her there for the rest of his life.

_**TBC **_

_**A/N: So I'm thinking that I'll write all of May and June, till Hogwarts ends basically, and then I'll have a few chapters in the summer & of the gang getting into their jobs and getting settled, but it will be like a chapter summarising the next 3 years or something, and then an epilogue **__** Unless I go totally off track (which I have a tendency to do...) then this story will be between 70 & 80 chapters long when I finally finish it!**_

_**Peace out,**_

_**Holly!**_

_**xxx**_


	54. A Night of Celebrating & Remembering

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 54 – An Evening of Celebrating & Remembering**

'I think this is such a bad idea!'

Harry sighed, his head hurt and he was nervous, 'Daphne, please come with me to this thing, maybe it is a bad idea, but I can't do it without you.'

'Yes you could, Hermione would get you through it,' Daphne argued, she was frustrated.

'She isn't you,' Harry said simply as he caught his girlfriend's eye, 'she knows me well, but she isn't you. It's you I want by my side tonight. I went and bought a nice dress and everything.'

There was a spark back in his eye and Daphne smiled slightly, 'you did?'

Harry nodded and pulled out a box from under his bed, 'I was trying to surprise you, but you are impossible to surprise.'

At this Daphne chuckled, 'you were so sure I was going to say yes that you bought a dress?'

'No,' Harry said cheerfully, 'I was fairly certain you'd say no so I bought a dress to convince you to come.'

'Well it might work,' Daphne admitted sheepishly, 'but I'd have to see it first.'

Harry rolled his eyes and opened the box; Daphne gasped as she took the dress out and held it up.

'Wow Harry,' she whispered in amazement, 'it's perfect.'

The dress was made of silky material that slid over Daphne's hands as she ran her fingers over it. It was slim fitting and beautifully jewelled with purple and very pale pink gems, the pink were so pale in fact they looked almost white. Just as the dress reached the knee it changed to a soft mesh like material that was the same soft pink of the gems.

'It's so beautiful,' Daphne said as she admired the dress. Harry smiled, 'the gems are real, they sparkle when the light hits them and they send little rainbows flying out in all directions. I thought you'd look beautiful in it.'

As Daphne carefully placed the dress on the bed and looked up at her boyfriend Harry was surprised to see tears in her eyes. She quickly crossed the short distance between them and kissed him gently and passionately on the mouth. Harry was surprised and his breath caught in his throat as he returned the kiss.

'Thank you so much,' Daphne said with a genuine smile as she wiped her eyes, Harry just nodded, he was completely lost for words.

After the exchange Daphne rushed off to get ready, even though it was only 11am and the ball didn't start until 7pm.

The rest of the day passed quietly, Hermione, Daphne, Hannah and Susan were getting ready in the big room at the top of the tower (aka Harry and Draco's room) and as Ginny and Luna were also going to the ball they were also up there getting ready.

Downstairs Harry, Draco and Neville were lazily sitting around with Theo and Sadie. Draco was accompanying Hermione to the ball, but Theo and Sadie hadn't been invited.

'So what are you two doing tonight?' Harry asked the engaged couple as he got beaten by Draco at wizard's chess for the 3rd time in an hour.

Theo sniggered at Harry as he cursed, but Sadie ignored this and replied, 'we're doing some wedding planning!'

To this Harry, Draco and Neville sniggered and got glared at by Theo who then got glared at by Sadie.

'Have fun with that,' Neville said sceptically as he, Draco and Harry chose that moment to run off to his dorm where they would get ready since the girls had stolen Harry and Draco's.

'What do you think it's going to be like tonight?' Draco asked nervously as he got changed into his dark blue wizard robes.

'Boring,' Harry and Neville echoed at the same time.

'These Ministry things always are Draco,' Harry said casually, 'you go, you mingle and talk to people you mostly hate, then you listen to a lot of boring speeches, eat some food, do a couple of dances and go home.'

'The food is good though,' Neville added and Harry nodded agreement at this, 'aw the food is the best part. Remember that lamb and mint casserole last time?'

'Yeah,' Neville said as his mouth started to water, 'and that crème brulee was to die for.'

'And the prawn cocktail, with king prawns!'

'Guys!' Draco interrupted, he was faintly amused, 'can you stop getting turned on by the food now please?'

Neville blushed and Harry chuckled, 'Hey, it's good food!'

Draco mumbled something, but Harry and Neville didn't reply. They'd both just finished getting changed, Neville was wearing dark red robes and Harry was wearing the bottle green ones he'd worn to the Yule Ball, they'd had to be adjusted to fit him now of course.

Neville left the room to go and see if the girls had arrived in the common room yet and as Harry and Draco followed him Harry put his hand on Draco's shoulder and said, 'stop worrying about it. Everything's going to be fine.'

Draco was momentarily surprised but then he nodded and said gratefully, 'Thanks Harry.'

With that they descended the stairs to wait in the common room for the girls to grace them with their presence. For once they didn't have to wait long because after 10 minutes they started arriving out of the staircase.

First out was Daphne who looked as beautiful as Harry had suspected in the dress he'd bought her, she'd put her hair up in a tight bun, but had left a few strands down at either side and her makeup was light, but the light purple eyeshadow she was wearing really complemented her dress.

Next out was Hermione who looked almost as fantastic as Daphne, in Harry's opinion. She was wearing a dress that was a mixture between pink and beige in colour. The dress was full length and reached her feet, just like Daphne's. It had a slit in the skirt and the entire bust was jewelled with silver gems as was part of the skirt. It was strapless and Hermione had left her hair down and curly. She looked lovely, as usual she wasn't wearing much make-up, but as she reached Draco he whispered to her, 'all thoughts of nervousness went out of the door the moment I saw you in that dress.'

Harry smiled at his two friends and wrapped his arm around Daphne. Her dress was similar to Hermione's actually, it too was strapless, the only difference was that instead of leaving her hair down she had put it up and was wearing a necklace instead. It blew Harry away how similar his girlfriend and his best friend looked at times though.

Hannah made her way downstairs next and as usual she managed to look beautiful in a very simple dress. This time the skirt was pure white and the detail was in the bust. Her dress was also strapless and the bust was embellished with silver and gold gems and threading. She had left her hair down like Hermione and was wearing the Hufflepuff necklace that Neville had gotten her for Christmas.

As Hannah reached Neville and slid her hand into his, Susan emerged from the staircase. As usual she was wearing an elaborate dress. Her dress was full length and entirely gold, it was like the dress was made up of gold sequins, but it still had a silky look to it. Whenever Susan moved the light reflected off of the sequined surface. Her dress was strapless like the others and she had worn her red hair down like Hermione and Hannah.

'She outshines me,' Daphne whispered to Harry, he rolled his eyes, she could be so vain and competitive at times, it both amused and infuriated him.

'No she doesn't,' Harry whispered back, 'because her dress isn't made up of real gems, plus red hair with a gold dress? That's a major fashion faux pas.'

Daphne burst into a hysterical fit of the giggles at this and Harry was surprised, 'what?' he asked, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden. Daphne shook her head and stopped laughing, 'I'm sorry Harry, that just sounded like the kind of thing Justin or Ernie would come out with, not you.'

Harry chuckled as he realised what she meant but didn't get a chance to say anything back because Ginny and Luna emerged from the staircase at that point. Ginny was wearing black as she had at the Yule Ball the year before. Her dress was full length and was strapless. The upper part of the bust was embellished with black jewels and then there was a lacy corset type top. The skirt of the dress was one of those elaborate kinds Daphne said she hated. It went inwards and then stopped at the knee and fanned out again. The skirt was decorated with silver roses as was the top. Ginny's hair was down and falling around her shoulders, she looked lovely. Michael said something similar as he put his arm in Ginny's.

Luna looked slightly more conservative and was about as different from the others as she could be, as usual. Her dress was full length, most dresses for an official event like this were, but it looked very vintage. It had a bust that stopped just below the chest that was dark black and had a pink rose on it. There were two shoulder straps that overlapped at the back of the dress. The skirt of the dress didn't puff out too much, but just enough to look elegant and was light beige with little crystals on it that captured the light.

Colin was meeting Luna in the entrance hall so with the entire group together they made their way to the entrance hall making small talk and chatting about the ball as they went along.

* * *

><p>The entrance hall was fairly crowded with the group of people making their way to the ball. An apparition point had been opened at the gates due to the vast volume of people. Pretty much all of the students who had been in the DA were invited to the ball. This group included Michael Corner, Colin, Dennis (and Astoria who was his date), Ernie, Justin, Anthony Goldstein, Parvati, Lavender, Padma and Terry Boot.<p>

Several teachers were also invited to the ball; McGonagall of course was one of them. As were all of the teachers who fought in the Battle of Hogwarts which meant Flitwick, Sprout, Trelawney, Hagrid, Slughorn and Sinistra were all attending. Filch was going as Trelawney's date and Madam Pomfrey had also been invited due to her contribution in the war. Charlie was also in the group of people in the entrance hall, he would meet the rest of his family there, all of the Weasleys had been invited.

'I hope I get a chance to talk to Ron tonight,' Harry said slightly sadly as he and Daphne followed the group as they began to walk down to the path towards the apparition point which would take them into the atrium.

'I'm sure you will,' Daphne said with a smile.

Harry had attended the meeting and practice session at the ministry the day before with Hermione, Neville and Ginny. They had gone through the itinerary and it had been a fairly boring evening, they had practiced the first dance but then the event's organiser had said two more people would be opening the ball too, but for some reason she couldn't say who. Harry was secretly hoping that one of them was Ron.

They reached the apparition point and were allowed to apparate 3 at a time as there were only 3 circles on the ground. It took a while to get everybody out hence why they'd met at 6.30pm in the great hall. When Harry and Daphne reached the ballroom they were rushed to one side of the large doors. With them on this side were Hermione and Draco and Neville and Hannah, but they weren't allowed to speak. They had to stand and smile and wave at everybody as they entered.

This of course was extremely boring so when the last couple had arrived just after 7pm they were glad to be allowed into the large ballroom, even if meant doing a dance. The doors were pulled shut, just like the Yule Ball and it was only as they took their positions with 3 couples lined up on each side of the door that Harry realised Ron _was _one of the two mystery guests.

When Harry and Ron caught each others eyes they shared a smile, they hadn't smiled at each other like that for a long time. Ron was here with Katie who looked stunning in a floor length off the shoulder red dress with black lace. The two old friends made a silent agreement to talk later, and Harry allowed his eyes to examine the others on that side of the door. One other couple was Ginny and Michael, but the 3rd mystery guests were Luna and Colin. Luna gave Harry a mischievous wink when he caught her eye, she'd obviously kept it from the others on purpose, Harry smiled at the Ravenclaw and at that point the doors to the ballroom opened. Harry took a deep breath and Daphne tightened her grip on his arm as they walked in first. There were people on either side as they walked down to the dance floor. It was almost exactly the same as the first Yule Ball had been.

Behind Harry and Daphne the others followed. Harry tried to smile and wave, but he knew he was forcing it and it probably showed. They reached the dance floor and the music began and remembering his training from Draco and Neville, Harry swept Daphne around the floor. All the same he was grateful when the music ended because it meant Harry could grab Daphne's hand and slip away to their table for a breather.

The tables were arranged for 8 people and there were 12 in the opening party, then there was Susan. As it turned out Harry, Daphne, Hermione and Draco ended up on one side of the table closest to the stage in the ballroom. On the other side of the table were Neville and Hannah, and then across from Harry and Daphne sat Ron and Katie.

'So glad that's over,' Harry mumbled as he sat down in the comfortable seat.

Ron laughed slightly uncomfortably, 'it was like the Yule Ball all over again, only you didn't step on anybody's feet this time.'

'And you didn't look like you were wearing your Grandmothers dress,' Harry retorted, Ron laughed and it felt like any tension that had been in the air vanished. Maybe it was the spirit of the date, after all Harry couldn't help thinking of everything he'd been through with Ron at a time like this and he was sure it was the same for the Weasley.

Ginny, Michael, Luna, Colin and Susan were at the table next to theirs with Lavender, Ernie and Justin. There was another table for the rest of the DA and two tables next to Harry's for the teachers.

'So what happens next?' Draco asked, he was still nervous and it was showing.

Ron shrugged, 'you wait until everyone's sitting down and then Kingsley will do a speech probably.'

'He is doing one, but its contents are totally secret,' Harry said thoughtfully, 'why were you not at the practice last night?'

'Ah,' Ron said, looking down, he caught Katie's eye and she nodded with a small smile. Harry was frowning at the exchange in confusion, 'we were at the hospital actually.'

'Oh my gosh, why?' Hermione asked, immediately worried that one of them was hurt.

'Oh neither of us were hurt Hermione,' Katie said with a smile, 'in fact it was just a simple scan.'

Around the table many eyes widened and Ron grinned, 'Katie's pregnant.'

'It was my 3 month scan last night,' Katie said happily and when Harry thought about it the dress she was wearing was slightly baggier than things he'd seen her wearing before.

'That's so fantastic!' Hermione said happily, 'I'm really happy for you both.'

Similar congratulations went around the table and Ron joked, 'we're getting married after the baby is born, it's kind of shotgun, but we were engaged before we knew about the baby.'

Harry chuckled, 'I thought Ginny would take after your Mum and Dad, not you.'

Ron laughed heartily at that, 'I'd never thought of it that way,' he admitted with a chuckle, 'I wondered why they were so calm when they found out.'

'Well congrats mate, I'm really happy for you,' Harry said honestly and Ron smiled, 'thanks Harry.'

No more small talk was made after that because Kinglsey walked onto the stage and silence fell instantly throughout the hall. The Minister for Magic smiled around at the ministry members and war heroes gathered in the room. He opened his mouth and spoke in his booming voice, 'Good evening and welcome. One year ago today I personally was hiding in a rundown shack in the Shetland isles of all places, trying to lay low until the time to fight arose. Now I find myself at the head of the Wizarding world which is rebuilding itself from the ashes of one of the most devastating wars our world has ever seen. It has not been easy, those of you who fought know that it was never easy, but I for one find myself proud to be part of a world that is capable of regeneration. I'm proud to rebuild our society with you and it never ceases to amaze me how well our people can adjust, how we can pick ourselves up and keep fighting, our society is strong and tonight more than ever I am very proud to lead it. It may seem wrong to celebrate tonight when so many died at this time one year ago. It might seem crude and unfair. Yes, tonight _is_ a night of festivities, but it is also a time to remember the war that tore our world apart. Tonight we remember, tonight we thank those who saved the world we love dearly. Tomorrow we mourn.'

Harry was the first on his feet clapping when Kingsley finished his speech and the rest of the hall quickly followed.

'He's the best Minister for Magic this place has ever seen,' Harry said with a grin as he took his seat once more.

'He's great,' Hermione agreed with a smile, she wiped some tears from her eyes, 'and his speeches are so good.'

'Almost as good as yours,' Daphne said to Harry, he felt his stomach churn at this, Ron chuckled, 'you're joking right?'

'No,' Daphne said honestly, 'Harry gives fantastic speeches.'

Ron looked at his old friend in surprise, 'you never used to be able to speak in front of a crowd without freaking out. Apart from when we were setting up the DA.'

'I've gotten better,' Harry said grimly, 'too many bloody press meetings after the war.'

Ron nodded his understanding, he knew how Harry felt and he could understand why it made him uncomfortable, 'when is your speech?' he asked.

'After the meal,' Harry said just as the starter magically appeared on the table.

'Don't let it ruin your appetite,' Ron said as he eagerly tucked into his food, out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Hermione roll her eyes, some things never changed.

The meal passed too slowly for Harry's liking, he made small talk with the others at the table and caught up a little with Ron while Hermione chatted to Katie.

Eventually everybody had finished the fantastic chocolate dessert that had been on offer and it was time for Harry to go up to the stage to prepare for his speech.

Daphne leaned across the table and kissed him on the cheek, 'Don't worry you'll be fantastic.'

Harry shook his head, he looked slightly crazed, 'you know I hate speeches, it was different at New Years, Draco was there too. I'm going to be up there on that podium with everybody looking at me!'

'Stop being such a wimp,' Daphne said with a slightly harsh glare, 'get your ass up there, and give a fantastic speech!'

'I haven't even prepared anything!' Harry whispered to his girlfriend who rolled her eyes, 'Harry, you give the best speeches when they're spontaneous. If it helps look at me and pretend there isn't anybody else here, okay?'

Harry nodded at this, he took a deep breath and got to his feet, 'See you in a bit,' he said slightly awkwardly.

He then walked the short distance to the stairs to the stage, made his way up them and disappeared behind a black curtain.

'Ah, Harry, are you ready?' Kingsley asked with a smile the moment he saw Harry enter the small backstage area.

'No,' Harry replied honestly and at this Kingsley boomed a laugh. Harry smiled weakly; he could feel himself shaking with nerves.

'5 minutes Mr. Potter,' a kindly woman with bright green hair said with a smile. Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath, he remembered what Daphne said and opened them again. The 5 minutes he spent examining the backstage area seemed to drag on forever and then the green haired woman said, 'on you go Mr. Potter,' and with another deep breath Harry walked out onto the stage.

He was occupying the same spot as the Minister for Magic. This was the first thing that raced through Harry's head when he took his spot at the front of the stage with a spotlight shining on him. He was looking out into the whole audience, he hadn't realised how many people there were.

Harry quickly cast a sonorus charm on himself and started to speak. He was happy when his voice came out clearer than he'd thought it would.

'I am honoured that the Ministry asked me to speak tonight because I don't feel any better than anyone else in this hall. I was born, and I already had a destiny before I could even speak, how does that make me special? Sure I fought in the war, but didn't everybody else in this room? I got lucky when I was younger and that's the only reason I survived long enough to make a difference in the final battle. I couldn't have done that without my friends throughout the years, if I didn't have people around me to support me I wouldn't have lived long enough to do that.'

There was silence throughout the room, Harry kept going.

'Hermione Granger's brains, Ron Weasley's instinct and strategy, Neville Longbottom's courage, Ginny Weasley's determination, Luna Lovegoods intuition, all of these people and the different skills they brought to the table contributed to the war as much as I did. So I want everyone here in this hall tonight to raise a glass to that and to acknowledge that never was so much owed by so many to so few. These people are the few who were always fighting, who never gave up and the victory of the Battle of Hogwarts lies with them, and with the Teachers that fought so hard to defend their home. Hogwarts is home, and the Battle of Hogwarts was bloody and painful and brutal, but it was our greatest hour.'

As Harry finished his speech the hall broke out into applause, he blushed at the recognition and gave a small bow before rushing off the stage and back into the little area behind it.

Kingsley greeted Harry with a strong hand shake, 'Extraordinary Harry,' he said with a proud smile, 'I couldn't help but notice you spoke the wise words of Winston Churchill.'

Harry blushed at this, he had hoped nobody would notice, 'I helped Dudley with his history homework when I was younger, I guess it kind of stuck.'

Kingsley chuckled at this and said, 'you should make your way back to your friends, you don't want to miss the dance.'

Harry nodded and left the stage, he hurried along the side of the hall so nobody would notice him and sat back down in his seat next to Daphne, 'and you said that your speech would suck!'

'It was great Harry,' Draco said with a smile and Hermione nodded as she smirked at her friend, 'even if you did steal a lot of it from a certain Muggle Prime Minister.'

Harry only winked at his friend at this, he took a deep breath and felt relieved that the worst part of the night was over. They all stood and the tables vanished, turning the hall once more into a full sized ballroom. The music started to play and everybody let their hair down, even Harry.

* * *

><p>Back at Hogwarts Sadie and Theo were bickering in the otherwise empty common room. The fire was still burning bright and Sadie was lying on the floor with several sheets of parchment lying around her and an inkpot sitting at a precarious angle.<p>

'No way Sadie! We are not having ANY pink!'

Sadie groaned in annoyance, 'Theo,' she whined, 'I only want a little bit, just some pink roses as centre pieces on the tables at the reception.'

'No,' Theo said flatly, 'I told you, anything else is fine, just no pink.'

'Well how about red roses instead?' Sadie asked, trying to compromise.

'RED?' Theo asked, sounding far too outraged than he should have been about the colour of the freaking centre pieces, 'Red is the Gryffindor colour Sadie, do you want a Gryffindor themed wedding?'

'Theo! It's a bloody flower on a bloody table!'

'Do you get green roses?'

'No!'

Sadie hit her head off of the ground. So far they'd made progress, the date was set as the 3rd of July and the venue had also been agreed on after 30 minutes of debating whose choice should be chosen, Sadie won.

Theo had wanted to get married in Wilton cathedral in the county of Wiltshire because he had been brought up in the town of Marlborough close by and it was a kind of tradition. However Sadie had been brought in Godric's Hollow in the county of Somerset so she'd wanted to get married in Bath Abbey. Eventually Theo had admitted that Bath Abbey was lovely and they had agreed to make it the venue for the wedding.

They had also decided to have the reception at Nott manor and use the ballroom there so now they were trying to decide on the theme for the wedding reception.

'Okay Theo, white roses? How about that?' Sadie asked, she was at the end of her patience.

Theo seemed to ponder on this for a moment and then he nodded, 'white is okay.'

Sadie sighed in relief as she jotted this down on the parchment, 'so the theme is colours then, but no pink. How about pastel green, yellow and blue for the tables?'

Theo nodded, he was lying on his stomach on one of the sofas, 'I think that would be nice, but not too over the top.'

Sadie smiled as she wrote this down too, 'so all that's left is clothes for the bridal party and clothes for the groom and his entourage,' she said as she started to gather all her parchment up, 'I've had enough bickering for one night, we'll do that tomorrow.'

'Thank Merlin,' Theo said as he jumped up from the sofa, 'can I take you to bed now?' he asked with a wink that made Sadie chuckle, 'please do.'

* * *

><p>Back at the Ministry the ball was just ending after a long dance, everybody was exhausted as the music finally stopped and everybody started to get ready to go home. The war hero bunch and Draco had ended up caught in a conversation with Kingsley which left Daphne standing slightly awkwardly at the door waiting for them.<p>

Daphne was watching Harry with a soft smile as he made his way over to where she was standing, she was very proud of how well he'd handled the night. Before Harry could reach Daphne however somebody else walked past her and said cryptically, 'enjoy it while it lasts honey.'

Daphne frowned as she caught a glimpse of the woman's face, it was Andromeda Tonks, the Grandmother of Harry's little Godson Teddy, and Draco's Aunt. As the older woman walked away with no further explanation Daphne realised what she must have meant. When school was over, this wouldn't last, this 'perfect' relationship, when school was over she would be the Slytherin nobody trusted and Harry would still be the perfect war hero.

'Hey Daph, you ready to go?' Harry said with a broad smile, Daphne nodded and gave Harry a weak smile, she let him slip his arm through hers and then they left the hall together.

* * *

><p>Harry and Daphne weren't alone until at least 2 hours after the ball. They were in Harry's dorm getting ready for bed, Daphne slept in here most nights these days.<p>

'Strange isn't it? About Ron becoming a Dad,' Harry said thoughtfully as he climbed into bed.

'Hmm, I guess,' Daphne said, her thoughts were elsewhere. She too climbed into the bed and said, 'Harry, we need to talk.'

'I've been waiting for this to happen since we left the ball, you've been distant. What's up?' Harry asked as he sat up in bed and pulled the curtains shut to give them some privacy.

'Someone said something as we were leaving the ball, they said enjoy it while it lasts,' Daphne began, she was still frowning, 'and it took me a moment but then I realised what they meant. When we leave school we're not going to be this way, we're going to be so different. Everyone's going to see me as the evil Slytherin whose using you, but you'll always be the saintly war hero.'

'Daph, I had a conversation like this with Draco not so long ago,' Harry said with a faint smile, 'I know things will change out of school, but frankly I don't care. I love you and I don't care what the press or the Wizarding world think about that.'

'Really?' Daphne asked, she seemed quite shy and self-conscious, something she wasn't very often.

'Really,' Harry confirmed as he leaned across and kissed her, 'let them say whatever they want about us, we know better than them or anyone else that we're more than perfect together, despite the differences.'

Daphne smiled at this, she was slightly tearful for the second time in 24 hours, Harry chuckled, 'is the ice queen thawing?'

Daphne laughed at this and wiped the tears, 'yeah I guess she is. I love you Harry.'

'I love you too Daph,' Harry said and the love and meaning in his voice was enough to tell Daphne that it would last.

'Get some sleep, tomorrows a big day,' Daphne said with a yawn as she cuddled up to Harry, 'more speeches.'

'Yay,' Harry said dryly as he drifted off into a disturbed sleep.

**TBC **


	55. Wizarding Remembrance Day

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 55 – Wizarding Remembrance Day**

When the 2nd of May dawned it was immediately clear that this was no ordinary day. The sun rose in a dark blood red, leaving an offensive orange burnt into the pale grey sky.

Harry hadn't slept. He'd gotten about an hours sleep then he had quietly slipped out of bed without waking Daphne and he'd climbed the last set of steps from his dorm to the top of the tower. He'd spent the evening encased in a warming charm on the roof of the tower. As he sat there he found himself lost in memories of what had happened one year ago. He'd been there since around 2am and sometime after 3am Hermione joined him, then around the early hours of the morning two became three as Neville made his way onto the roof. Throughout the sleepless night none of the 3 on the rooftop said a word.

Harry had found himself missing Ron with a real ache; he wanted his friendship and support more than ever at the moment. None of this felt right without Ron. Ron who was becoming a Father and whose path was constantly becoming more and more different to Harry's. Harry knew he had cried at least once before the burning sun rose, but he hadn't acknowledged this or even raised a hand to dry the tears.

When the sun finally set in the early summer sky Harry sighed and glanced at his watch, the great hall would be open and sitting in there without eating had to be better than sitting out here staring at the place where he had died a year ago today.

When Harry got to his feet Hermione and Neville followed without question, they always had in times of battle, so what reason did they have not to now? They made their way through the empty common room and then into the even emptier school. It was May, but it wasn't a warm day, and it hadn't been a warm evening, the halls were draughty and chilly, and Harry felt shivers running down his spine. When they eventually reached the great hall after a trek that felt like it had taken forever it wasn't what Harry had expected.

The great hall had only ever been so quiet on two occasions that Harry could remember. The first of those being Cedric's memorial service and the second being after the final battle, before Harry had gone to the forest, when all of those dead lined the hall. It was 6am, and the hall had only just opened 10 minutes before so Harry had assumed it would be empty, especially since it was a Sunday, but he was surprised by what he saw. Each house table was half full, and all the people at those tables looked like they hadn't had much sleep as they pushed food around their plates.

The 8th year table was another story. It was practically empty, but there were a few kindred souls sitting there. Draco was sitting at the table alone, he had a mug of untouched coffee in front of him and he looked to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, at the other end of the table Seamus was also sitting alone, he too was staring into the distance as if deep in thought. In the middle of the table sat the 3rd lonely soul, Theo.

It made sense to Harry when he actually thought about it, one year ago today Draco and Theo had both lost someone they loved, because they had both lost Pansy. Harry knew Seamus's reason for being at the table, he was clearly mourning Dean.

Hermione broke from the group and sat down next to Draco, but neither of them spoke to each other. Neville followed suite and sat down next to Seamus, they shared a nod of acknowledgement but no words were spoken. This left Harry to sit down next to Theo, like the others they didn't speak, but they acknowledged each other briefly with a fraction of a nod. As the group sat silently the hall began to fill up, but the mood didn't lighten. Those who appeared earliest were those who had lost the most, like Ginny, Hannah, Susan, Blaise, and so it went on. Finally Daphne and Sadie arrived and sat down next to their respective partners, Sadie understood not to talk to Theo, she knew what was wrong and she knew nothing she could say would help, but Daphne wasn't quite at that point with Harry yet.

'Where were you last night? You were gone when I woke up,' Daphne said, there was sorrow in her voice, but she wasn't going through the same amount of pain that Harry was, how could she be?

'On the roof,' Harry said roughly, his voice was harsh from lack of use.

'All night?' Daphne exclaimed in surprise, 'it's freezing, what did you do that for?'

Harry sighed and was about to make a snide comment that he would probably regret later, but thankfully someone stopped him from doing so.

'When you go through pain like we have you can't sleep, and you can't be alone, but you can't talk either so you have company with those in a similar situation. Today is going to be hard for us Daphne, so don't expect us to be on top form,' Hermione said diplomatically to her friend. Daphne looked slightly offended by the comment, but she didn't speak, she dug into breakfast, something very few people at the table were doing.

Breakfast passed quietly, the 8th year table was mostly silent. It felt like it took forever for the clock to finally reach 9am. The memorial started at 9.30am so it meant that they could finally be on the move, on the way to making sure today went smoothly, but more importantly on the way to getting this day over with so they could all carry on living their lives.

When Harry got outside the grounds were already set for the memorial. Thousands of white seats stretched back and there was a small stage in front of the lake, Harry's stomach churned as he was reminded of Dumbledore's funeral.

As one of the speakers Harry was expected to sit by the stage so he bade a silent farewell to his friends and made his way to a row of seats directly in front of the stage. The 'VIP' guests were in the row behind him, these people included Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Ron, Susan, Hannah, Luna and several other DA members. Draco, Daphne, Sadie and Theo were much further back with their 'fellow' Slytherins.

Harry sat and tapped his foot nervously as the rest of the school and other important figures in the final battle filed into the grounds and took their seats. Harry felt very wrongly placed in between the Minister for Magic and the Headmistress of Hogwarts. Eventually everybody was seated and McGonagall got to her feet, she looked pale so Harry gave her an encouraging smile which she seemed to appreciate.

As McGonagall made her way to the stage cameras snapped and flashed, the press had been allowed in, although McGonagall had fought Kingsley to the last gasp on that one. McGonagall took a deep breath as she climbed the steps onto the stage and reached the podium in the centre. She looked out at the large crowd full of black, almost everyone was wearing black dress robes or a black dress or outfit of some kind. Steadily and sounding confident she then began to speak.

'Ladies, Gentlemen, Boys, Girls, I wish that Albus Dumbledore were standing here today to welcome you to this monumental event, but he is not, and that saddens me. Albus Dumbledore was just one of many tragic deaths brought around by the hand of Lord Voldemort, but his touched me more than many because he was my best friend,' McGonagall's voice wasn't shaking, but Harry could see the small signs, the emotion in her voice was real.

'Everybody in this crowd is feeling the same about somebody they lost, whether it was a year ago today or even longer,' McGonagall continued, 'the two wars that shook this world devastated and touched so many lives, and today I am proud to welcome you to the place where a brave young man put an end to it all. I find it fitting that it happened here, where it all began because without Hogwarts then Lord Voldemort would not have been anyone, but a small lonely child with a lust for power. Today we celebrate that we are alive, but more importantly we mourn for those who are not here today, we mourn for those who did not make it. To them I would ask you now to have one minute of silence during which I would ask you to remember those we loved who are no longer with us.'

McGonagall bowed her head and closed her eyes and the crowd all did the same. Harry's thoughts wandered when his eyes slid shut, they were sometimes on Sirius who may have been here to see this today if Harry hadn't been so stupid. Then his thoughts were on Remus who would never see his little boy grow up, and then to Tonks who had died without ever really knowing true love. His thoughts briefly lingered on his parents, and he wondered what his life would have been like if he had been raised as a wizard, or if he had been raised by the Longbottoms, would he and Neville be like twins? Then Harry's thoughts were with Cedric, the casualty of war, the innocent boy who had so much ahead of him, just like Fred, who had a whole life to live and fantastic prospects, but then it had all been ripped away from him. By the time McGonagall spoke to announce the end of the silence Harry was completely overwhelmed with grief.

'Thank you,' McGonagall said and it sounded as if she was holding back tears. She made her way down from the platform quickly and in a moment of vulnerability let Kingsley put his arms around her, in public.

Harry knew this was his cue so he swallowed his pain and got to his feet. He felt the silence pressing down on him, like some invisible pressure, as he climbed to the stage and took his place at the podium which was wet with McGonagall's tears.

'Today is a sad day, in fact it's a miserable day, for me at least,' Harry began honestly, 'but I find some comfort in the fact that I can hold this up,' he reached into his robes and pulled out a golden galleon, Hermione gave a faint smile in the crowd, she knew what it was, 'and squeeze it,' Harry squeezed the galleon, 'and those who fought with me will feel a burning sensation somewhere on their body, because they are all carrying this galleon with them.'

Sure enough in the crowd several hands reached into pockets.

'These galleons aren't real, they were designed to call members of Dumbledore's Army to meetings. We kept them, because we are proud to have fought, and it brings me joy, and hope, to know that when I press on that galleon that only 3 coins won't burn, and those 3 coins don't burn for 3 different reasons. One will not burn because the member had it taken from her for betraying us, another will not burn because he perished in the battle of Hogwarts and finally the 3rd coin will not burn because its owner survived the bloodbath that was the battle, only to die shortly afterwards tragically. I mourn these deaths, but I am grateful that of the 30 strong group only 3 people are not with us today. Perhaps today is a day to be sad, but it is also a day to remember that we are strong, we are the generation who fought, we are the generation of soldiers. Some of us are wounded, emotionally and physically, but we wear these wounds as our battle scars, those we lost cannot do that. So I say, today, wear your wounds, and be proud to have been a fighter.'

Harry raised his galleon into the air and felt a lump rise in his throat and tears threaten to spill from his eyes as throughout the crowd others did the same. It began in the front row with Ron, and then Hermione and Neville, with Ginny and Luna following. Soon every member of the DA was standing, but Fred wasn't standing next to George and Dean wasn't standing next to Seamus and despite being proud Harry could only see the ghostly figures of the two men who should have been here today.

He didn't want to break down on stage so he did the same as McGonagall and hurried from the stage back to his seat. McGonagall gave him a weak smile and put her hand on his shoulder, 'Well done Potter,' she said and from her that was practically a motherly hug which would have usually made Harry feel extremely proud and accepted. However at that current point in time all he could do was nod and try and force the tears threatening to fall back into his eyes.

* * *

><p>Kingsley closed the memorial with a speech that Harry didn't hear anything of, then everybody began to file back into the school, but Harry didn't move. Daphne made her way towards her boyfriend, but she was stopped by Hermione moving to stand in front of her.<p>

'Don't,' Hermione said quietly, and Daphne's eyes flashed angrily, 'He's my boyfriend Hermione.'

'Don't Daphne,' Draco said, his voice was brisk, 'we don't fit in with them, not today.'

'He needs me today Daphne,' Hermione said, her voice was quiet and harsh, 'every other day of the year he needs you, but today he needs me.'

'Come on,' Draco said, he was grasping Daphne's arm and trying to steer her away. With a dirty look to Hermione, Daphne relented and let Draco drag her away.

Hermione turned and walked towards Harry, she sighed, she didn't want to upset Daphne but she would only make things worse today. The moment Harry saw Hermione approaching out of the corner of his eye he was on his feet and in seconds he was hugging her tightly.

Neither of them were sure if they were crying or not as they held each other like their life depended on it, a year ago today it had.

'Thank god Hermione,' Harry whispered quietly, he was vaguely aware of someone approaching from behind him, but he didn't know who it was, 'thank god you survived, I couldn't have coped without you, or Ron.'

'Well your lucky we were both alright then, weren't you?'

Harry spun around and grinned broadly when he saw Ron standing behind him, looking as lanky as ever and as awkward with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He gave Harry a small smile and looked extremely surprised when Harry hugged him, Hermione giggled in the background.

'Come on Hermione,' Harry said and Hermione joined in with their group hug.

'If it helps mate, we were just as glad to see you jump out of Hagrids arms that night,' Ron said, he was trying to be casual and nonchalant but Harry could hear the emotion in his voice.

'We never wanted to lose you Harry,' Hermione reiterated as she wiped away the tears that had fallen earlier.

'We lost a lot, but at least we didn't lose each other,' Hermione said with a small smile, 'and recently we've been acting like stupid teenagers, just because we've had fights or because relationships didn't work out doesn't make us enemies.'

'We'll always be the golden trio,' Harry said with a grin to his two friends, 'our lives might be going down different paths but that doesn't mean we can't keep them connected.'

'I'm glad you brought that up,' Ron said slightly sheepishly, 'Katie and I have been talking, and despite everything that happened I wanted to ask you to be Godfather Harry. I can't imagine anybody else looking out for my kid.'

Hermione burst into tears and Ron and Harry shared an amused look, it caused Harry to flashback to when they had made up in 4th year and Hermione had gotten emotional.

'Bloody emotional as ever isn't she?' Ron said with a smirk, Harry chuckled and rolled his eyes, 'that's Mione for you, and yes, I would love to be Godfather.'

'Sorry, it's just so sweet,' Hermione said as she wiped her tears once more, she put an arm around Harry and her other around Ron and said, 'come on, like old times.'

Harry and Ron both chuckled at this but all the same they walked like that all the way to the great oak doors to the entrance hall.

* * *

><p>'Fucking bitch!'<p>

'Daphne shut the hell up,' Draco said in annoyance, sounding like his old self for a moment, 'you don't get it! You didn't fight this war, you hid in your fucking house for a year!'

Daphne was silent for a moment, 'My Father died in the war, he may have been a git but he died all the same! And I had death eaters in my house torturing me and my sister all year so don't make it sound like I had a nice happy year!'

'I got tortured by death eaters since I was 6,' Draco said with a glare, 'so what you 'went through' is nowhere near as bad as what other people did. You don't understand the bond between them, and you never will.'

'Oh and you understand it?' Daphne asked bitterly, 'because you're such close friends with them?'

'I don't understand it!' Draco bit back, 'I have no idea what the hell it is, but I know that it's important to Hermione and I know that her relationship with Harry is what makes her relationship with me work. It's as if the two of us together make a full relationship.'

'You make it sound like they're having an affair,' Daphne scoffed angrily.

'In my mind they are,' Draco said, the anger ebbing, but the hurt still in his voice, 'maybe they don't sleep together or have a physical relationship, but there is something between Hermione and Harry stronger than friendship and I don't understand that, but I know they went through hell together and came out alive. I know they are two survivors of a world that wanted them dead since they were 11 years old and I know Hermione hasn't told me half of the crap she went through with Harry,' Draco paused for a breath as they reached the top of the steps, they were just in front of the doors to the entrance hall now.

'Harry needs Hermione, and vice versa, and if you want to be in a serious long-term relationship with Harry then you have to realise that. We can't take that away from them,' Draco said quietly as he looked to the front of the stage where Harry and Hermione were hugging.

'Do you think he loves her?' Daphne asked sadly.

'In some way, yes, but not in the way he loves you,' Draco said truthfully, down on the grounds Ron reached the duo and Harry hugged him.

'They have a bond,' Draco said again, 'Harry, Ron and Hermione, they went through so much and as close as they get to you and I we will never understand like they do. That bond is for life.'

'And we just have to accept that if we want Harry or Hermione they come as a package deal,' Daphne realised as she watched the trio hugging.

'Yes,' Draco said simply.

'I guess I can handle that,' Daphne said optimistically, 'as long as they don't start sleeping with each other.'

'They won't,' Draco said with a small smile, 'I can tell you that for certain.'

'You know, they feel similar about us, and our relationship,' Draco added which surprised Daphne.

'What relationship?'

'We were close Daphne, and I know I was a bastard and that I cheated on you with Pansy and left you in the lurch, but we have a bond that I only ever had with Pansy and Theo. We understand each other in a way that is further than friendship, but isn't love either,' Draco explained as he put his arm around his friend.

'I guess,' Daphne said as she mulled this over, she allowed Draco to lead her into the entrance hall and through it to the great hall where a meal was being had in memorial.

* * *

><p>The hall was set up similarly to normal, but between the 8th year and the head table there was now another long table for the guests of the memorial. Ron was technically supposed to sit down there, but he didn't, he sat down at the 8th year table, next to Draco nonetheless.<p>

Draco frowned at Ron's choice of seat, but didn't say anything. A few seconds later Ron initiated the conversation.

'I'm sorry for what happened,' Ron said quietly, 'but I was insanely in love with Hermione and I got stupid, I always did around her.'

'I think it's something most men do around Hermione,' Draco said with a faint smile, he was still rather bemused.

Ron chuckled and nodded, 'Well I was naïve, I thought that once the war was over it would be Harry and Ginny, and Hermione and me, but people change and the war changed all of us. Hermione and I wouldn't have worked, we aren't alike enough, she's too clever for me and I could never hold intellectual conversations like she can with you, and we just fought so much.'

Draco didn't speak, he figured Ron had something he needed to say and he didn't want to interrupt, so he waited for the Weasley to speak once more.

'I can see now looking at it with hindsight that your better for her than I was,' Ron said finally, 'but she's still one of my best friends so take care of her, okay?'

Draco had to admit that he was surprised, this didn't seem like the Ron Weasley that he had gone to school with and bullied.

'I will,' Draco said simply, he wasn't sure if he'd ever go beyond polite with Ron, 'I'm sorry too,' he added, 'for the way I treated you in school. It was unacceptable, I was merely acting on the prejudices that my Father brainwashed into me.'

'Yeah well, you seem alright now,' Ron said, back to being slightly awkward again, as Ron was.

'Thanks, I guess,' Draco said, just as awkwardly, yeah he definitely didn't think they would ever be BFF's.

'Right, well see you around,' Ron said as he got to his feet and skulked back over to where Harry and Hermione were sitting with Neville and Ginny.

'What _the hell _was that?' Daphne asked from where she was sitting next to Draco.

'I'm pretty sure that was Weasley apologising and giving me his blessing, or something,' Draco said, still surprised by what had just happened.

'Wow, did he change his personality or something?' Daphne asked in surprise, she was as shocked as Draco.

'I don't know, but I think Harry said he was having a kid, that might explain it,' Draco said as he turned back to his food, but he wasn't hungry, he hadn't really felt hungry all day.

'Maybe,' Daphne said as she too looked down at her practically untouched plate.

BANG!

Everybody at the 8th year table and the two tables in front jumped, maybe it was the date or maybe it was just the fact they were battle scarred, but loud noises still made them wary.

With their wands at the ready everybody rushed outside, but they weren't met with a death eater attack like they had feared, instead what they saw was fireworks. The sky had been darkened, magically of course, and there were fireworks in the sky.

Standing on a little floating island in the middle of the lake stood George with a box full of fireworks. The first firework in the sky was a face, it was the face of Harry's Mother, there was another bang and James face appeared in the sky lit by red fireworks. Harry felt a lump in his throat as he realised what was happening.

More faces appeared, Harry recognised some but not others, Susan's parents faces appeared and then so did Cedrics. George was projecting to the sky the faces of those who had died in both wizarding wars.

Harry glanced around as there was a short pause in the fireworks, Susan was being held by Percy, Hannah and Neville were cuddling, even Draco and Hermione were holding hands.

As Harry turned back to the sky to see the next face his breath caught in his throat, the face belonged to Sirius. He tried to tell himself not to cry, but he wasn't sure if it was working, he thought he was going to breakdown when he felt a hand slip into his. Harry knew instantly from the soft, but firm grip that it belonged to Daphne and for the first time all day he felt like the huge weight he was carrying on his shoulders had lessened.

Harry turned to Daphne and gave her a faint, watery smile. Daphne returned his smile with a slightly watery one of her own. They both turned back to the darkened sky.

More faces lit up the sky, they continued in a line, and when they got too far away to be seen properly then more faces appeared in another line beneath the others. Harry couldn't believe just how many deaths there had been. Soon Dumbledore's face lit up the sky, another one which caused Harry some difficulty controlling his emotions.

It was after Dumbledore's face that Harry really got emotional because he recognised more and more people. George had been thoughtful enough to fire up the image of an owl which was clearly meant to represent Hedwig. After that Moody's face appeared, and then Scrimgeours which was followed by Ted Tonks face. After this the next face was of poor, innocent little Dobby and then of Crabbe which Harry supposed must have upset Daphne slightly.

Then the victims of the Battle of Hogwarts began to appear.

First it was Fred, then it was Remus, and then Tonks, and then came the death that had touched Harry more than he thought possible, a greasy haired hook-nosed old potions professor's face appeared in the sky and next to Harry, Daphne started to cry quietly. Harry swallowed the lump in his throat as he relived the potions masters' death unwillingly in his head.

Several more faces appeared, but Harry didn't recognise many, and then finally it was over and the sky was light once more. Harry looked around at the crowd of people, some were crying, others were in shock, and some like Harry just looked depressed.

'Come on,' Harry said as he put his arm around Daphne, 'let's get back to the common room.'

* * *

><p>Harry and Daphne weren't the only ones with the idea to get away from it all to the peace and quiet of the 8th year common room, all of the 8th years had the same idea so although it was crowded it was much better than sitting in a stuffy hall with a bunch of other people who were depressed.<p>

'It was sort of a nice way to end it all,' Neville said from his perch on the sofa with Hannah, 'don't you think?'

'I guess, but it was sad too,' Hermione said with a sigh, 'I knew so many faces in the sky.'

'So did I,' Harry said with a sad glance out of the window, the faces were gone now.

'But Neville's right, it was a nice way to remember them,' Theo said, his mind still on Pansy's face in the sky, it was burned into his head.

Sadie nodded, she looked like her thoughts were elsewhere, 'it was horrible seeing them all lined up like that though.'

'It was like being back there again,' Hermione said, her voice was rough and she looked pretty cut up by the display, 'it was like seeing them all lined up in the hall, all white and cold with staring eyes.'

Those who had been there that day shivered at the thought, they remembered, how could they forget that chilling sight?

'But we all survived,' Neville said, always looking on the bright side, 'and we're all going to have our happily ever after.'

The others were surprised as their friend got to his feet, he looked both confident and scared at the same time.

'I wasn't planning on doing this today,' Neville said to the group, and others in the vicinity stopped talking to see what was going on.

'But the memorial today, and then the fireworks, well it's made everything hit home. I didn't realise how lucky I was to survive, and how lucky I was that Hannah survived. If we hadn't been so lucky then I'd never be this happy, so,' Neville turned to his girlfriend who looked excited and nervous at the same time.

'Hannah Abbott, I am completely in love with you, and I wish I had realised it sooner, but I was oblivious to what love was then. Now that your mine I don't ever want to lose you, so will you do me the honour of agreeing to become my wife?'

Neville was shaking with nerves as he got down on one knee and pulled out of his robes a small black box. He opened it, revealing the simple diamond ring he had chosen for Hannah.

Hannah was surprised for a moment, she hadn't seen this coming at all, in fact none of them had, but once she regained her senses she nodded, and cried, and said, 'Yes! Of course Neville!'

Neville grinned broadly as he slipped the ring onto her finger, it fitted perfectly which made Hannah cry a little more.

There was a swarm of cheering and shouts of 'congratulations' from throughout the room. Harry got to his feet first and hugged Neville, 'Congratulations mate, you stole my idea,' he winked at Neville who immediately looked guilty so Harry added, 'I'm only joking.'

Next Draco hugged and congratulated him, and then Theo did the same. Then all the girls jumped on Hannah and started asking about the ring and all of a sudden the day seemed better. It didn't seem like a day for being sad and lonely and depressed, it felt like a time to celebrate and be grateful for what they had, which was of course each other.

Harry smiled to himself as he watched Neville kiss Hannah, he had to admit it, he had the greatest friends he could have, and that included his newly reformed friend Ron. Without these people he could never have gotten through today, but he had, and the day was finally ending.

It would happen once a year, he knew that, but he also hoped it would get easier with every coming year.

_**TBC**_

_**I just wrote a tag-along fic to this story which will appear on here later tonight! Its a more in-depth thing about what happened between Harry & Hermione in the tent, because that is referred to a lot in this fic but never fully explained so keep an eye out if you are interested!  
><strong>_

_**Thanks for reading!**_


	56. Life is Moving On

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 56 – Life is Moving On**

After the busy and traumatic events of the memorial service the 8th years were glad for a few days peace and quiet. It didn't last for too long though, because when Wednesday rolled around the final draft of the 8th year potions project was due.

'I'm not freaking out,' Hermione tried to assure Draco and Harry as they sat at the 8th year table eating breakfast.

Draco raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend, 'Have you seen how frizzy your hair is today?'

Hermione shot her boyfriend a glare, 'Draco, the size of my hair is not equal to how stressed I am.'

'Yes it is,' Draco and Harry echoed, to which Hermione threw a sausage at them both.

'Hermione, you have the best project out of us all, Slughorn even said you'd get an O,' Sadie said reassuringly, 'stop worrying about it.'

Hermione sighed and put her project back in her bag, it was about the 20th time she'd read through it since the night before.

Truthfully everyone else was just as worried about the project, but they weren't letting onto this. Hermione continued to freak out throughout the day as potions wasn't until after lunch. By the time the group ended up together again in the dungeon Draco looked ready to tear his hair out which made Daphne and Harry share an amused smirk.

The projects were collected and Hermione looked like she might burst into tears, Harry couldn't help but chuckle at this, some things never changed, and he was glad of that.

Hermione seemed calmer at dinner, but all the same Draco stealthily made his way over to Harry and Daphne so he wouldn't have to sit next to her at the table, 'I thought she'd gotten more laid back lately,' Draco grumbled as he sat down.

Harry laughed and said under his breath, 'You think that was bad? Wait till you see how bad she is next month with the exams.'

'Seriously?' Draco asked, looking quite scared at the thought.

Daphne smirked at him and said, 'Hey, that's what you get for falling for a know-it-all.'

Harry shot his girlfriend an amused grin and said, 'You were freaking out like crazy this morning Daph, don't tease Mione.'

'Oh whatever,' Daphne said, as she rolled her eyes.

Draco chuckled and changed the subject, 'So, who are you supporting on Saturday?'

'Hufflepuff obviously,' Harry replied with a smirk.

'Well you'll be on the losing side then,' Daphne said, just as smug as Draco, it was clear they had something up their sleeve for the upcoming match.

'We'll see,' Harry said, although he was aware that if Slytherin did well in this match it would mean that they would be in with a chance to win the Quidditch cup. After all it was the second last match of the season.

'You saw us destroy Ravenclaw back in January,' Draco smirked at the Gryffindor, but Harry only rolled his eyes.

'And you saw us take out Hufflepuff in March,' Harry said, the same slightly evil, competitive glint in both of their eyes.

As it stood at the moment Slytherin were leading in the points table with 430 points, second to them were Gryffindor trailing behind on 340 after beating Hufflepuff 300-80 in March. Hufflepuff were third with 300 points and last at the end of a terrible season so far were Ravenclaw with a mere 70 points.

'We're going to win,' Draco said confidently.

'And we're going to win against Ravenclaw at the end of the month,' Harry said, smirking at Draco and Daphne, 'so in the end it comes down to the team who wins with the best score.'

'Which will be us,' Daphne said with a grin.

'Oh hush about Quidditch you lot,' Sadie said with a slight smile, 'its obvious Slytherin will get the cup.'

The others chuckled and left the matter there, for now.

* * *

><p>Saturday morning was tense, although it seemed only for the Hufflepuff team because the Slytherins seemed completely calm and at ease, as usual. The table was split, as it always was before a Quidditch game and when Harry and Hermione entered the great hall together they immediately sat down on the Hufflepuff side.<p>

Neville and Hannah shared an amused smile at this and Neville said, 'Good to see your love lives haven't affected your loyalties.'

'Nah, never,' Harry said, 'kick their asses Hannah.'

Hannah chuckled, 'We'll try, but we've got nothing on them.'

'The tactic with Slytherin is not to get scared by how good the team is,' Harry said quietly, he leaned in closer so that the rest of the team could hear him. Zacharias, Ernie, Justin, Susan and Megan all leaned in closer too.

'It's true, they do have a fantastic team, _but_ they have some key weaknesses and if you can exploit them then you'll be laughing,' Harry continued, this was sort of cheating, but he was sure they wouldn't get caught, and Slytherin would probably win regardless.

'What are their weaknesses Harry?' Justin, the captain, asked eagerly.

'Draco, when he's on a chase to get the snitch, gets distracted by everything, hit a bludger at him, or near him, and it will be enough for him to lose the snitch,' Harry whispered, the Hufflepuffs eagerly took in everything he said.

'As for their keeper, well let's face it, he's probably the weakest player on the team,' Neville added, in a whisper, 'if you throw the quaffle towards the edge of the left or right goal you'll have a better chance of scoring, he only really saves goals that are headed for the middle hoop.'

'The beaters are good, no doubt about it, Theo and Blaise make a good team, so just avoid the bludgers, that's the best advice we can give you there,' Seamus said, who had taken over from Dean in the beater position for Gryffindor.

'Daphne and Sadie are both fantastic chasers, they are fast and they can shoot goals that are practically impossible to save, but Sadie has a tendency to always shoot for the left hoop so watch out for that,' Ginny said, she'd joined them at the 8th year table this morning.

'And Daphne, as good as she is, has a pretty big weakness too,' Harry said, feeling like he was betraying his girlfriend slightly, but it was Quidditch, and he got much more competitive than usual with this being Gryffindor's last chance to win the cup, 'she's kind of an attention seeker so she hogs the quaffle, she likes to be the one to score and she isn't that great with passing, so if you can pre-empt that then you have an advantage.'

'What about Gabrielle?' Ernie asked, the French girl had taken over the chaser position from Tracey after her death.

Harry snorted and Neville laughed out loud, 'Don't worry about her, have you seen her play in practice?'

The Hufflepuffs shook their heads and Harry said, 'I saw her once, she can't catch the quaffle and when she does she drops it, I'm pretty sure they took her on because no one else wanted the position, after what happened to Tracey.'

'Oh,' Ernie said, and for a moment the table was quiet. Brining up Tracey, or Dean, always led to a reaction like that.

'But remember what I said and you'll be in with a good shout to beat them,' Harry said, although he didn't actually believe it himself.

The Hufflepuffs thanked Harry and then left to get ready, with the Slytherins close at their heels.

'Is that cheating?' Harry asked the others once the team were gone.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, 'Not officially.'

'There isn't anything in the rules about helping other teams out,' Neville said with a sly grin, 'so how could it possibly be cheating Hermione?'

'Yeah Hermione, would we ever cheat?' Harry asked, grinning at his friend too.

'Us brave, truthful, honest, courageous Gryffindor's,' Ginny added with a smirk, 'would we really cheat?'

'You guys are incorrigible,' Hermione said fondly, causing the others to grin.

'Hufflepuff have to win this or we're going to have a hard time doing well enough in our game against Ravenclaw to overtake Slytherin in the points table,' Harry said, to Hermione, but also to the others since the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins were gone now.

'I know, but Harry, you've seen how badly the Ravenclaws are playing, they haven't won a match,' Neville muttered under his breath.

'You never know, they might up their game for their final match of the season,' Harry said, narrowing his eyes at the Ravenclaws sitting further down the table.

'We'll be prepared,' Ginny said simply and Hermione nodded, 'Come on, let's get to the stands.'

Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Seamus made their way out to the pitch together, Seamus had gotten much more quiet lately, which was both strange and refreshing at the same time.

The sun was shining, the ground was free of frost and snow, it hadn't been raining and there were no clouds in the sky. The conditions were perfect for Quidditch.

'See you guys later,' Hermione said when they reached the pitch, she hurried up to the teachers stand to narrate the match.

'Try not to favour Slytherin too much this time!' Neville teased as Hermione rushed up the stairs.

Seamus chuckled and said, 'I hope Hufflepuff win.'

'Yeah, I think we all do, apart from the Slytherins,' Ginny said as the rest of the group made their way up to the Gryffindor stands.

'I think it's going to be a close game,' Harry said as he and the others stood at the front of the Gryffindor stands, 'Hufflepuff might actually do this.'

'Don't jinx it,' Neville said as they watched the teams get ready on the pitch.

'Welcome everyone!' Hermione's voice echoed throughout the pitch, 'to the second last Quidditch game of the 1998-1999 season!'

Everybody cheered and Hermione continued, 'Slytherin are leading in the points table with 430 and Hufflepuff are currently in third place with 300 points. To maintain their lead against Gryffindor, Slytherin need to win this game.'

On the pitch Draco walked over to Justin and they exchanged a few words and shook hands.

'Luna has a new idea to get the crowd warned up, so she's going to play a song and she wants everyone who knows it to sing along,' Hermione said, sounding slightly uneasy about this idea.

Harry and Neville shared an amused glance.

The song started to play and there was a ripple of laughter throughout the stands.

'_We will, we will rock you! We will, we will rock you!'_

Harry was quite surprised by the amount of people in the crowd who clapped along or sang along to the song, he had to admit that it made him laugh although he didn't know the song that well due to the Dursleys never giving him money to buy anything, let along muggle music.

'Alright, and now it's time to get the game started!' Hermione said, through her chuckles, 'The captains have shaken hands, the snitch has been released and Madam Hooch is about to put the quaffle into play.'

'The quaffle is seized immediately by Daphne!'

Harry sniggered.

'She's making her way across the pitch, she's going to try and score! And she shoots…she scores! 10-0 to Slytherin already!'

'_I'm a scene, I'm a drama queen, I'm the best damn thing that your eyes have ever seen.'_

Harry found himself laughing at Luna's song choice, he was fairly sure it was aimed at Daphne…

Hannah cursed at this, Hufflepuff didn't have a great time, but this really was a bad start.

'And Slytherin are back in possession of the quaffle, it's Sadie, no it's Daphne, and it's Sadie again, Daphne and she shoots, but no! Smith has saved it!'

Harry didn't like Zacharias Smith, but he smirked, it was no easy feat saving a shot from Daphne but he'd done as Harry said, he'd assumed Daphne wouldn't pass and judged the angle she'd score at.

'Hufflepuff in possession now, Hannah, now Megan, no Hannah again, Megan, Hannah and yes! Hannah scores, 10-10!'

'_Nothings ever outta reach, so dream dream dream!'_

Colin was perfect in charge of the music, Harry would miss this.

'Yes!' Harry cheered and Neville full out jumped up and shouted in delight.

'And now Slytherin are in possession, Daphne has the quaffle – she passes to Sadie – who passes back to Daphne – she's going to shoot – no! she passed to Sadie and Sadie scores! 20-10!'

There were groans from the Gryffindor stands, but cheers from the Slytherin stands.

The game continued like that for the next 30 minutes, Slytherin just kept scoring and scoring, and scoring. It had been forty five minutes since the game started and the score was 110-10 to Slytherin. The Hufflepuffs seemed to be giving up completely.

'Come on,' Harry muttered to Neville, 'let's piss off the Slytherins, it might distract them.'

'What are you thinking?' Neville asked with a slightly evil grin.

Harry whispered something in Neville's ear and both boys grinned as they started to sing.

'Malfoy cannot play Quidditch and not wince!' Harry and Neville sang loudly, not even needing a charm to make their voices sound louder.

'He can't even catch the snitch'

Seamus joined in.

'That's why all us Gryffindor's sing, Malfoy is our Prince!'

On the pitch Draco glared at the Gryffindor stand as more and more people started to sing. The snitch was fairly close to his head, but he was too irritated to notice.

'Malfoy has the movement of a rolling pin!' Hermione looked unsure as to whether she should laugh and join in, or glare at her friends and tell them off, so she kept her mouth shut.

'He won't catch a thing!'

The singing was getting louder, but on the pitch Slytherin scored again, taking their score up to 120-10.

While the keeper was trying to calm Draco down he missed a goal from Hufflepuff, taking the score to 120-20.

'Malfoy will make sure Hufflepuff win! Malfoy is our Prince!'

While Draco was distracted by the song Justin had spotted the snitch hovering above the Slytherin goalposts, in one quick movement he'd soared across the sky and caught the snitch.

The stands exploded with cheers, all but the Slytherin stands of course where all that could be heard were boo's.

Justin cheered loudly and held the snitch up proudly.

'YES! GO JUSTIN!' Harry and Neville whooped as the Hufflepuff flew to the ground where he was jumped on by the rest of his team who hugged him and patted him on the back and cheered. Then Ernie and Justin had a rather full on kiss in the middle of the pitch which merited groans from around the stands.

'The final score is 170-120 to Hufflepuff!' Hermione cheered from the teachers stands, 'which puts Slytherin at 550 in the points table and rockets Hufflepuff to 470! Which means of course that to get ahead of Hufflepuff, Gryffindor must score over 50 points in the final match of the season. To overtake Slytherin, Gryffindor will need over 220 points to win the cup!'

With that the commentary ended and Hermione left the box. Harry and Neville shared a glance and decided that they would risk going onto the pitch to congratulate the Hufflepuffs.

'Well done Hannah!' Neville said with a grin as he hugged his fiancé who had scored both of Hufflepuffs goals.

'Nice catch Justin,' Harry said as he patted his friend on the back, 'you're a good seeker.'

Justin grinned, 'Thanks Harry, it was thanks to your tips that we won at all.'

'And the song,' Susan said with a grin as she dropped her bat on the ground to hug Harry, 'you and Neville were brilliant!'

'We'll call it our revenge for what they did to Ron,' Harry said with a chuckle.

'Tips? What tips?' An enraged voice asked from behind.

Harry spun around to be faced by Draco and Theo, he looked around for his partner in crime, 'Uhh, Neville.'

'What?' Neville asked as he appeared beside Harry.

'_What _tips?' Draco asked again.

'Oh yeah, we gave the Hufflepuffs some Quidditch tips,' Neville said with a smirk, 'is that a crime?'

'You're supposed to be our friends!' Draco said with a glare.

'Get over it Draco,' Harry said with a slight frown, 'we have more friends in other houses that we've known for longer.'

'Whatever Potter,' Draco said bitterly, 'Slytherins are meant to stick together.'

'Well we aren't Slytherins Draco,' Harry said and Neville nodded, adding, 'as much as you want us to be, we're still Gryffindor's.'

'Still losers you mean?' Theo asked and Draco laughed nastily at this, he and Theo turned and walked away, making their way off the pitch.

'Could they get any more immature if they tried?' Daphne asked in astonishment as she watched the boys leave.

'Oh probably,' Sadie said, shaking her head in disbelief, 'can you believe their letting those two into Auror training?'

'Well done on the win,' Daphne said to the Hufflepuffs and Sadie echoed this, the girls were much more gracious losers than the boys.

'What happened?' Hermione asked, slightly out of breath when she arrived on the pitch.

'Draco and Theo walked off in the huff because we gave Hufflepuff tips, they took it as some huge personal insult,' Harry said, still shocked at what had happened.

'Yeah well, they are Slytherins, no offence guys,' Susan said, adding the last part to Daphne and Sadie.

'None taken,' Sadie said with a chuckle.

'Come on, let's get back to the common room, I think a party is in order,' Susan said with a grin, 'I'll meet ya in the common room, I'll go get the butterbeer.'

'And meet Percy along the way in Hogsmeade?' Daphne teased, Susan just winked and hurried off up the grounds to the castle.

* * *

><p>The party was in full swing, it was 2am in the morning, and no one had seen Draco or Theo since the argument on the Quidditch pitch.<p>

'I'm going to go and look for Draco,' Harry said finally, he'd had one too many butterbeers and was feeling very bad about what had happened between him and the Slytherin who had quickly become one of his best friends.

'Where are you going to look?' Daphne asked and Harry shrugged, 'I don't know, I'll check the dorm first I guess.'

'Just use the Marauders Map,' Hermione said, the voice of reason as usual.

'Oh,' Harry said thoughtfully, 'I hadn't even thought of that, good idea Mione.'

Harry then made his way up the stairs, staggering only a tiny bit. The dorm was empty so he raked in his trunk for the Marauders Map, when he eventually found it he mumbled, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,' and the map came to life.

Harry scanned the map, floor by floor, but he couldn't see Draco or Theo anywhere. He was wondering if Draco was even in the castle anymore as he glanced through the lowest floors of the castle, but then he saw it.

A dot labelled 'Draco Malfoy,' in the lower dungeons.

Harry frowned, why would he be down there? He wondered for a moment, but then he realised that Draco wasn't just in the dungeons, he was in Severus's office, which still contained a large amount of his belongings.

Harry stuffed the map into his pocket and hurried down the stairs, through the common room and down the grand staircase, why did Draco have to be so far away from the 8th year common room? Harry wondered as he reached the entrance hall and made his way down two more sets of stairs to get into the corridor leading to the potions classrooms and the office were Draco was hiding out.

Harry approached the door quietly, he couldn't hear anything coming from inside, so he pushed the door open slightly and walked in.

Draco looked up from where he was sitting reading a potions book at a seat in front of the desk, 'How'd you know where to find me?'

'I have a map that shows every room and person at Hogwarts,' Harry said casually as he leant against the wall, Draco knew this of course, he'd seen the map.

'Whatever,' Draco said, sounding as bitter as he had earlier.

'Where's Theo?' Harry asked curiously.

'I don't know, his dorm I think,' Draco replied, keeping his answers short.

'I know your pissed off Draco, but you have to understand that Hermione and me, and Neville too, we had lives before we became friends with you guys, and we aren't just going to drop that,' Harry explained, 'Justin and Ernie are both good friends, so we supported Hufflepuff.'

'Supporting is one thing, giving tips is another,' Draco said grumpily.

'The truth is your just pissed you lost, and you're taking it out on me,' Harry said, narrowing his eyes at his friend.

'I am not,' Draco said, very defensively.

'Was Salazar Slytherin Scottish?' Harry asked curiously.

Draco frowned deeply, 'Why?'

'Well Godric Gryffindor was Welsh,' Harry said simply, 'and recent studies have suggested Helga Hufflepuff was Irish,' he added.

'So?'

'So, if Rowena Ravenclaw was English then it would make sense for Salazar Slytherin to be Scottish, a founder from each part of Great Britain,' Harry finished.

'Some studies suggest he might have lived on an estate near the site of Hogwarts,' Draco said, still keeping his answers short.

'Well, I think he must have been because the Scots are famously defensive, and it's a trait they share with Slytherins,' Harry said as he sat down on another chair in front of Severus's old desk.

'I'm not defensive,' Draco said defensively.

Harry raised an eyebrow at his friend who huffed.

'Look Draco, we're adults, we've been through a war and we survived it. We're the lucky ones, and you don't act like it all the time,' Harry said, getting down to the gritty stuff, 'soon you are going to be responsible for the rest of the Wizarding World and you've got to act like that. You can't throw a fit every time something doesn't go your way.'

'I know,' Draco said, sighing slightly, 'but you don't get it. It's hard for Slytherins to make friends, real friends, and well…Potter you are a real friend.'

Harry smiled at how awkward Draco was in trying to say how he felt.

'And well, I'd quite like to stay friends with you, so my temper got the better of me, I guess,' Draco said, looking everywhere but at Harry.

'Was that an apology?' Harry asked in amusement.

'Suppose so,' Draco mumbled and Harry chuckled, 'you and Ron are more similar than you know,' he said through his laughter, Draco glared at him for this.

'Come on, we're having a party in the common room, free booze and all,' Harry said, trying to tempt Draco to come back with him.

'Alright then,' Draco said, he put the book down and pushed himself to his feet and left the room with Harry.

'Nice song earlier.'

'It served you right, after what you all did to Ron.'

'So you guys are best friends again are you?' Draco asked, he'd wondered about it since the scene at the memorial earlier in the month.

'Not quite,' Harry replied honestly, 'but we're closer than we were before.'

Draco merely hmm-ed and Harry rolled his eyes, 'Don't get all insecure about it Draco.'

At this there was a stifled chuckle that made both Draco and Harry stop in their tracks and spin around.

'Wingardium Leviosa!' Harry shouted, pointing his wand in the vague direction of the noise.

Harry couldn't help but snigger as the invisibility cloak flew off of Daphne and Hermione and landed on the floor behind them.

'Aw, look at the loved up couple,' Daphne teased and Hermione chuckled, 'all back together again.'

Harry and Draco both rolled their eyes and put an arm around their respective drunk girlfriends.

'Women, why do we put up with them Harry?' Draco asked his friend as they led the giggling girls back to the common room.

Harry chuckled and replied, 'Merlin only knows.'

* * *

><p>The morning after Draco and Harry made up, Theo and Neville had a very James-Sirius like make up hug in the middle of the great hall, and just like that things went back to normal.<p>

The next game was Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw and it would be the last match of the Quidditch season, but it wasn't until the last Saturday of May.

The few days after the match and the argument passed without much of interest happening, the gang were busy handing in last minute essays and doing preparation for their exams which would be the following month.

It was exactly this they were doing on Wednesday the 12th in Potions, they had spent the entire period revising for other classes because as they had now handed in their potions projects they had no more work to do in that class.

There were about 10 minutes left until the end of the class when Slughorn made an announcement, 'I have finished marking all of your projects,' he said as he picked up a pile of scrolls from his desk and walked to the front of the class.

Hermione gasped and nearly fell out of her seat as Slughorn made his way around the class, dropping the scroll on the desk of each student.

'You all did very well, and I hope you achieved the grade you hoped for,' Slughorn continued, 'this will be the last potions class, so for the rest of the term you should use your free period when you would have had this class to study for your other classes.'

Slughorn dropped the last scroll on the desk and said with a smile, 'Class dismissed.'

Everybody grabbed their bags and hurried out into the corridor, Draco dragged the others down the corridor into a large hall which Harry and Hermione recognised as the hall where Nearly Headless Nicks Deathday party had been held.

Once out of sight of the rest of the class everybody opened their scrolls to find out how they had done in their project.

Harry, Draco, Theo, Neville and Susan were all nervous because they needed to pass with an E or O in Potions to get into the programme officially. After Kingsley had told them that they had been accepted they had received a formal letter detailing their conditions.

Hannah was just as nervous because she needed an O to get into her medicine course and even Daphne needed a pass to get into her course.

The only two people who didn't actually need a passing grade in this project to get into their prospective courses and jobs outside of Hogwarts were Lavender and Hermione, which was ironic given that Hermione had been the most nervous of them all upon handing in the project.

There was silence, apart from the rustling of paper as everyone scrambled to find their results.

'I got an O!' Hannah squealed happily as she hugged Neville tightly.

Neville grinned and showed her his paper, 'an E!'

'Oh my gosh, I got an O too!' Daphne shouted with a grin as she punched the air.

'Yes! So did I!' Sadie said with a huge grin as she jumped into Theo's arms, her fiancé chuckled, 'I got an E,' he said with a grin, he'd achieved his passing grade too

'I got an O.' Hermione said weakly, as if she couldn't believe it, Draco rolled his eyes, 'of course you did, you're brilliant.'

'How did you do Lavender?' Sadie asked her friend as Lavender stared at the paper in surprise.

'I got an O,' Lavender said in shock, 'I've never gotten an O…ever.'

'Well done!' The others said, Susan smiled at the Gryffindor and said, 'Well I got an E, which is just what I need to get into the Auror programme.'

Everybody had shared their grade apart from Harry and Draco now.

'What did you get Harry?' Daphne asked her boyfriend. Harry looked up from the paper with a smile, 'I got an O too,' he admitted.

'Wow, well done Harry!' Hermione said in surprise, she knew how bad at potions he had been when he first started out at Hogwarts.

'That's great,' Daphne agreed happily as she hugged her boyfriend.

'What about you Draco?' Hermione asked the Slytherin who looked up with a smile.

'Oh, I got an O too,' Draco said casually, such a smug git as ever.

'We all passed!' Sadie said happily.

'I reckon this calls for a party!' Daphne said with a grin.

'But it's a Wednesday night!' Hermione exclaimed in horror.

'So?' The others echoed and Draco chuckled, 'Come on Mione, just one party then back to revision.'

'Oh fine,' Hermione said, giving in as usual, she smiled at the others and they all left the dungeons together, en route to a party to celebrate in the common room.

_**TBC **_

_**Songs Used:**_

_**Queen – We Will Rock You**_

_**Avril Lavigne – The Best Damn Thing**_

_**Miley Cyrus – Dream**_


	57. The Quidditch Cup

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 57 – The Quidditch Cup**

After the events of earlier May, the rest of the month dragged by slowly. In every class they were preparing for their exams and when they weren't in class they were still preparing for their exams. Hermione was constantly stressed which was driving Draco insane and everybody else was trying to squeeze in as much practical work as possible for their DADA exam which led to many oddly shaped people making their way into the hospital wing. McGonagall had banned practicing in the common room after Seamus had ended up in the hospital wing with the body of a horse, it didn't help that he couldn't stop neighing for 2 days afterwards…

Everything got worse when they got their exam timetables handed out the following Monday morning. Hermione thought it was ridiculous, and she voiced this opinion very loudly, that they only got their timetable a few weeks before the exams.

'I doesn't make a difference Mione, you'd have studied for the last month anyway whether or not you had the bloody timetable,' Theo said in exasperation.

'These exams are important Theo!'

'Yeah we know that Mione,' Sadie said, trying to be diplomatic.

'Harry, how the fuck do you deal with her when she's like this?' Draco asked, completely at his wits end, 'I swear I'm gonna kill her.'

Harry sniggered at this, 'Honestly, I just sit there and nod and ignore her a lot.'

'Right, nod and ignore,' Draco said, 'I'll do that.'

'Oh my gosh, this is the worst exam timetable ever!' Hermione shrieked and Draco actually let his head drop onto the table with a loud thump.

'Why?' Daphne asked, sounding like she was scared of the answer, Hermione was snapping a lot at the moment.

'I have Arithmancy on the 7th, Ancient Runes on the 8th and Transfiguration on the 9th!'

'Hermione calm down will you?' Harry asked, speaking in a soft, gentle voice, 'Transfiguration is your best subject, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes are really similar so revising for one is going to be like revising for the other, and you've already done a ton of work for both anyway.'

Hermione nodded, apparently she only listened to Harry, Draco thought in annoyance.

'At least DADA is last,' Harry said thoughtfully, he liked having his best exam last, it meant he finished on a high.

'And Divination is first,' Draco said with a chuckle, 'Good luck with that one.'

Harry laughed and said, 'Oh I'll just bullshit my way through it, I usually do.'

'Just over two weeks to the first one,' Theo said thoughtfully as he chewed on a bit of sausage, 'suppose I should start revising then.'

Sadie rolled her eyes fondly at her fiancé, 'Has anyone ever told you that you are ridiculous?'

Theo just winked at her and continued eating his breakfast.

Before anymore could be said on the exams, McGonagall stood from the head table and called for attention.

'I would like to announce that things will be slightly different this year. As we have both 8th years, and 7th years graduating Hogwarts we will be adjusting the schedule slightly. The 8th year prom will be on the 18th of June, the 8th years will then be invited to a coffee morning with the professors on the 19th of June. Finally there will be a graduation ceremony for the 8th years on the 20th of June.' McGonagall explained, the 8th years listened carefully.

'The 7th year prom will be held the following week on the 25th of June, with the coffee morning on the 26th of June and the graduation ceremony on the 27th of June,' McGonagall continued, 'Each student is allowed 2 guests to invite to the ceremony, I would ask that you provide these to me by the end of May.'

With that she took her seat and the hall buzzed into life.

'Wow, it's not that long till we leave here,' Sadie realised in surprise.

'I know,' Hermione said, sounding slightly sad.

'What's it like anyway? Graduation?' Harry asked, students weren't allowed to go to graduation, it was only for the students graduating, the professors, and those who were invited as guests.

'I don't know,' Daphne said honestly, 'but I've heard it has something to do with leaving on the boats like we arrived here in first year.'

'That's kind of sweet,' Hannah said with a smile.

'Who are you going to invite?' Harry asked the group in general.

'My parents,' Hermione replied and Hannah nodded, 'Yeah, same.'

'My Mother,' Daphne replied, 'and Astoria.'

'Just my Mother,' Sadie with a smile, 'there isn't anybody I'd really want there.'

'I think I'll invite Percy,' Susan said with a smile that made the others chuckle, she was actually falling in love with the Weasley.

'I'll just be inviting my parents,' Lavender added and Blaise nodded, 'I suppose I better invite my Mother, I just hope she doesn't find a new prospective husband while she's there.'

Theo chuckled, 'Well I'll invite my Mother and my sister.'

'Theo, you have a sister?' Hermione asked in surprise.

'Yeah,' Theo said, as if this were obvious, 'So?'

'Well you never talk about her,' Harry said, he hadn't known either.

Theo shrugged, 'She's my half-sister, she's only 6.'

'What's she called?' Hermione asked.

'Lacey,' Theo replied with a slight smile, 'anyway, who you inviting Draco?'

'My Mother,' Draco said, lost in thought for a moment, 'and Aunt Dromeda. My Father is in prison so it's not like he could make it…'

True to his word, Draco had been visiting his Father once a week in prison and they had been forming a bond again, which was good for both of them.

'I'll invite my parents,' Neville said with a grin, 'I never thought I'd actually have them at my graduation,' he added happily.

'What about you Harry?' Hermione asked with a smile, she had a feeling she knew who he would invite.

'Well,' Harry said honestly, 'Pretty much everyone I want there will be watching from up high, my parents, Sirius, Remus…' he sighed and said, 'I guess I'll invite Aunt Petunia and Dudley.'

Hermione gave a small nod, she knew how much Harry wanted Sirius to be there.

'I wonder what the prom will be like,' Daphne said, partly to change the subject, and partly because she wanted to talk about it.

'A huge party from what I've heard,' Draco said with a smirk, 'it should be good.'

'Yeah,' Harry said, although he felt an aching wrenching feeling in his gut about leaving Hogwarts for the last time.

* * *

><p>'I swear to god if she kicks me out once more I'm going to hex her!'<p>

'What's up?' Harry asked when Lavender stormed into the common room.

'McGonagall just kicked Parvati, Padma and me out of another used classroom! We have to practice for the Defence against the Dark Arts exam but there is literally nowhere to do it!' Lavender said, throwing herself onto the sofa by the fire in frustration.

'Ow.'

'Blaise!' Lavender said in surprise when she realised she had landed on the Slytherin, 'honestly! Do you actually blend into the bloody scenery?'

Blaise sniggered but said no more, he and Lavender were together now and had been for a little while.

Hermione gave Harry a pointed look, Harry narrowed his eyes back and shook his head. To this Hermione tilted her head and gave Harry another look, to which Harry sighed and said, 'Fine.'

'Finished having eye sex now have you?' Daphne asked casually, she was amused by the interaction between her boyfriend and his best female friend.

'Yes dear,' Harry said sarcastically, 'Hermione just came up with the idea to hold a DA session, to help people practice for the DADA exam.'

'And you determined that by looking at her?' Draco asked in amusement.

'Yeah,' Harry said, unfazed by this, 'so?'

'Whatever,' Theo said with a grin, 'can I come? Because I need to practice too.'

'Sure,' Harry said with a smile, 'we'll call it an open session.'

'Thanks Harry,' Lavender said as she hugged her fellow Gryffindor, 'I'll spread the word.'

'Alright Lavender, tell the others we'll meet in the Room of Requirement at 8pm on Saturday the 22nd,' Harry said to the girl who nodded and rushed off.

'You seem a bit less enthusiastic than usual to do this,' Hermione noted and Harry sighed, 'it's not that I don't still enjoy it, but it's just different now. I watch them all duelling and doing these spells and I know they've had to use them to defend themselves while they've watched others die.'

'I understand that,' Hermione said with a smile as Daphne hugged her boyfriend.

'Think of it as a fun learning session,' Daphne suggested, 'just try and block everything else out.'

'Okay,' Harry agreed, 'sure, I'll do that.'

* * *

><p>When the 22nd rolled around Harry was feeling much better about it all as he made his way to the Room of Requirement with Hermione, Draco, Neville, Hannah, Theo, Sadie and Susan.<p>

'So what are you going to teach us today Harry?' Susan asked with a smirk when they entered the room, it was decorated as it had been when they had practiced in it during their 5th year.

'I'm not that sure yet, I'll tell you when I decide,' Harry said which made Susan laugh. The group sat around discussing ideas while the others arrived, finally they were ready to start and practically all of the 8th year were in the room, along with those in lower years who had been in the DA like Ginny, Luna and Colin.

'Alright, so we're going to practice for the practical exam for Defence against the Dark Arts. We don't know what's going to be in it yet of course, but we can guess,' Harry said, addressing the group, 'the unforgivables can't be taught at practical, but they will be a big thing in the written exam. I think that dementors will be a part of the exam, not real ones, probably just a boggart of a dementor. Nonverbal magic is definitely going to be in there, and I think they will definitely test duelling reflexes. The only other thing that I can say will definitely be in the exam is Inferi, I don't think they'll make us fight a real one, it will probably be a boggart again, but you'll need to learn to defend yourself against one.'

'So, let me just check where everyone is. Put your hand up if you can know how to cast 'Expecto Patronum.'

Everyone put their hand up which made things easier for Harry, 'Alright, so we'll just touch it up then. What about nonverbal magic, who's good with that?'

About half of the people in the group put their hands up, so Harry nodded, 'Alright so we'll work on that. I know everyone will pass the duelling test fine, but we'll brush up on it anyway. So, I know we learnt the theory in class, but who feels confident that they could kill an Inferius?'

Not one hand went up, so Harry chuckled, 'Right, we'll start with that then. Can someone tell me how to kill an Inferius?'

'You can't,' Michael Corner said, 'it's already dead.'

'Yes, true,' Harry said, 'but it does have weaknesses you can exploit. Anyone know what they are?'

'Fire,' Hermione said from the front of the crowd, of course she knew.

'Exactly,' Harry said with a slight smirk to his friend, 'so there are two ways to kill the Inferi, and like Michael said, by 'kill' what I really mean is de-animate them because as you all know, Inferi are just corpses that have been animated by dark magic.'

'Is one way Incendio?' Ginny asked from near the front of the group.

'Incendio can work,' Harry said, 'but it depends on the strength of your magic, if you are slightly weaker then it's better to use a more powerful spell.'

'What about Lumos?' Padma asked, 'Inferi are dark creatures, so fire kills them, but what about light?'

'Good theory,' Harry commended, 'but unfortunately Lumos doesn't kill Inferi. It does however push them back and stun them for a few seconds so that's a useful one to remember.

'Can you kill them with fiendfyre?' Seamus asked, not noticing Draco wincing at the word.

'I wouldn't try it,' Harry advised, 'I don't know if it would work because nobody has tried it, even the best wizards can't control fiendfyre and as its dark magic it might only make the Inferi stronger.'

There was silence throughout the room so Harry spoke again, 'the best way to kill Inferi is with a spell called firestorm which not surprisingly conjures a firestorm which manifests itself in a ring around the caster. It's controllable, unlike fiendfyre, and it isn't dark magic so it's the best known way to defeat them.'

'Are you going to teach us it?' Lavender asked excitedly.

'I am,' Harry said, '_but _I am going to only allow one person at a time to try it and it's going to be on a stage in the centre of the room.' Harry closed his eyes and opened them a moment later. In the middle of the room there was now a circular stage with impenetrable glass surrounding it, a door into it and a section for Harry to sit in and talk to the person inside without being hurt.

'Draco, Daphne and Hermione are going to keep guard around the edge to put out any stray fires and Hannah is going to be standing by for first aid just as a precaution.

'Lavender, do you want to go first since this meeting was your idea?' Harry asked, and looking slightly scared Lavender nodded and made her way into the arena. Hannah, Draco, Hermione and Daphne were standing around the edge, all protected by shield charms.

'Alright Lavender, the incantation is Ignis Tempestas,' Harry said, 'cast it and the ring of fire will appear, take a moment to get used to it, then I'll throw a fake Inferius in there.'

Lavender nodded and took a deep breath, 'Ignis Tempestas,' she said loudly and clearly, and just like Harry said the fire appeared, she learned to control it then took out the fake Inferius with it.

By the time everybody had done the same it was late, 3 hours had passed, but everybody had mastered the spell, so they agreed to meet again the next day after lunch to perfect the other charms.

* * *

><p>Harry had to admit as he sat down on the sofa on Sunday night, he was proud. Not only of what everyone had done on Saturday night with the firestorm spell, but of what they had done on Sunday afternoon too. Everybody had taken out a boggart dementor expertly, and after that everybody had at least managed to nonverbally light their wand up with Lumos.<p>

They had finished off the session with a duelling competition, Harry had wanted to sit out because he didn't think it would be fair if he won. Everyone had demonstrated excellent duelling skills and he was confident that they would all pass with O's. The duelling competition had taken about 2 hours, and in the end it had been Harry against Hermione, Harry had won of course.

'Wow, today has been tiring,' Harry said with a yawn as he leaned his head against Daphne's shoulder.

'You did really well though,' Hermione said with a smile, 'I could tell how proud you were of the DA, especially when they all did so well in the duelling contest.'

'Yeah, I was proud,' Harry admitted, not in any way ashamed of it, 'if this feeling is how teachers feel then I think I'd be a good one.'

'I think everyone will do really well in DADA,' Neville said thoughtfully, 'could you imagine the look on McGonagall's face if everyone in the DA got an O?'

'It would be brilliant,' Harry said with a chuckle, he was exhausted but he also felt a deep sense of achievement.

'I'm a bit disappointed though,' Harry said with a sigh, 'with how we did in practice this morning.'

'We were just tired because we'd done the DA session last night,' Neville assured Harry who sighed, 'we were bad, and if we're going to beat Ravenclaw then we're going to have to up our game.'

'We'll be fine,' Neville said, 'you know the drill, just stop Terry from catching the snitch until Gryffindor have scored at least 7 goals.'

The Slytherins had been listening in quietly to this conversation.

'I think the cup could go either way at the moment,' Susan said honestly, looking between her friends, 'I mean Slytherin are on a pretty good score, but the way Ravenclaw have been playing stands Gryffindor in good stead. It should be an exciting match.'

'Indeed,' Draco said with a challenging look in his eyes that made Harry roll his eyes at his friend. He was looking forward to the Quidditch match the following Saturday, and he really wanted to win the Quidditch cup, but the feeling that was overriding both of those was sadness. There was this nagging feeling he couldn't quite get rid of, and he knew it had something to do with this being the last match he'd ever play as the seeker for Gryffindor.

* * *

><p>When the morning of the 29th of May dawned, it didn't feel like any other Quidditch match day to Harry. He felt sick, like he had when he had played his first game, but it wasn't nerves, it was sadness.<p>

Harry didn't feel right as he made his way down to the great hall where he joined the rest of the team on the Gryffindor side of the table.

'What's up Harry?' Daphne asked with a frown when she saw her boyfriend.

Harry faked a smile, 'Aw nothing, just…it's the last game I'll play for Gryffindor.'

Hermione could see the pain Harry was in, she smiled and reached across the table to take his hand, 'Hey Harry, don't treat it like a sad thing, take advantage of it, make the most of it, yeah?'

Hermione had this way of saying things in a way Harry understood or could identify with, and once more she had worked her magic, because he brightened up significantly after that and managed to eat some toast before heading down to the pitch with the rest of the team.

As the team stood together in the changing rooms, for the last time, Harry felt his eyes well up a little, 'Come on team, we can do this, it's our last chance, we can win this.'

Ginny smiled and hugged the captain, 'We'll win it for you Harry.'

'Yeah, let's bring it home for Harry!' Neville said, Seamus punched the air, 'For Harry!' the team shouted and Harry actually did cry very briefly. Only Ginny noticed, she whispered, 'We'll do our best, promise.'

'Thanks Gin,' Harry said, she understood how much this meant to him, winning the Quidditch cup as Captain in a year where he'd played every match well and without injury was sort of an ambition for Harry.

The team made their way out onto the pitch and Harry felt a lump in his throat which he pushed down. They made their way into the centre where they lined up opposite the Ravenclaw team.

'Shake hands,' Madam Hooch ordered as the crowd was cheering and shouting in the stands. The atmosphere was always good at the last match of the season.

Harry walked out and shook Terry's hand.

'I hope you win it man,' Terry said good naturedly, 'you want it more than we do.'

'Hey don't go easy on us Boot,' Harry said jokingly, Terry laughed, 'No chance,' he said with a grin. The two 8th years made their way back to their teams. Hermione was narrating again.

'The sky is blue and free of clouds, the sun is shining! The conditions are great for Quidditch, but that glare off of the sun might cause some problems for the chasers, great for the seekers however!'

Draco shook his head in amusement from where he was sitting next to Hermione at the commentating box, with Colin and Luna both playing he'd been roped into doing the music, Harry was slightly worried about what might play, Draco had a limited knowledge of muggle music.

'Mount your brooms,' Hooch said, and everybody did.

'The snitch is released, and the quaffle is thrown into the air, play begins!'

Harry shot off into the distance, hovering in the middle of the pitch, not too high or low, his eyes scanning the entire area. He knew what he had to do, let the others score loads before he actually caught it.

Harry couldn't see what was going on until he steadied himself, but he could hear the commentary, 'Gryffindor in possession to begin with! Ginny has the quaffle, she passes to Natalie, who passes to Dennis, back to Natalie, and she's going for the goals…yes! She scores! 10-0 to Gryffindor!'

'_It's more than a feeling, more than a feeling!'_

'Gryffindor in possession again, and oh my god I can't believe it, Ginny is going for it, and YES! Another goal! 20-0!''

Harry grinned, this was a good start, he punched the air happily and started to fly slowly around the pitch, looking for the snitch.

'A bludger is headed for Natalie, she's hit in the arm, she's okay, but she's dropped the quaffle!' Hermione was shouting, Harry could see her jumping up and down on the bench. So far Draco's music taste hadn't been too bad, but now that Ravenclaw had the quaffle and looked like they might score Harry wondered what he'd play if they did score.

'Ravenclaw in possession, Luna has the quaffle, she passes to Mandy, and back to Luna, Mandy, Luna again and she scores! 20-10!'

'_Don't stop me now, I'm having such a good time, I'm having a ball!'_

Luna had scored a fantastic goal, she'd gotten it past Colin expertly, and Colin had cheered for his girlfriend when she scored, 'whose team are you on?' Neville shouted in amusement to the keeper as he flew past him, hitting a bludger in Terry's direction.

The next 10 minutes were surprising, Luna scored 3 consecutive goals and then Mandy scored and after that Padma scored, Colin was keeping as well as ever, but Ravenclaw seemed to have gone from terrible to amazing. Had this been a tactical move or just luck?

'What a twist! Ravenclaw are leading 60-20!' Hermione exclaimed. Gryffindor seriously needed to up their game, and up they did.

Ginny scored twice and then Natalie scored, taking the score to 60-50.

Harry was cursing as he looked around, he needed to wait until the team scored twice more, at least, before he could even catch the snitch.

Gryffindor's good luck ended after those three goals, Ravenclaw were in possession of the quaffle again and the Gryffindor chasers couldn't get it back, as hard as they tried.

Between them, Luna and Padma scored another 4 times, then Gryffindor got the quaffle back briefly and scored once more, taking the total to 100-60.

Harry was cursing as he glanced around the pitch desperately, to win this he would need to catch the snitch. Thankfully Gryffindor started to play to their usual standard as Hermione announced that the game had been ongoing for an hour now.

Ginny scored again, and it was a good goal too, then Natalie scored taking the total to 100-80, they were catching up, it was progress. Luna scored yet another goal after that, but then Ginny scored another and then Dennis scored twice which meant the overall score was 110 all.

Harry wanted to find the snitch more than ever now, he was flying as fast as he could without his vision being blurred when he saw it. The sun caught it at the right moment. Harry saw the golden glint bounce off of the tiny balls surface, it was hovering near the ground by the entrance to the towers.

Harry shot towards it immediately and he could sense Terry following him, he reached the snitch just as it shot inside the area underneath the stands, Harry followed it inside on instinct but Terry didn't follow him, he cursed, 'You're fucking mental Potter!'

'Merlin,' Harry cursed as he sped through the area, avoiding the wooden beams, 'this is a lot tighter than it was the first time.'

Harry could only just hear the commentary as he followed the snitch, avoiding hitting anything, but not taking his eyes off of it.

'Harry is under the stands! Oh my goodness! Is he injured? Will he come out?' Hermione was slightly worried, Harry would have rolled his eyes if he wasn't trying to keep them on the snitch.

Harry got so close to catching it and then the snitch shot up, through a very narrow gap, Harry took a deep breath and followed it, grimacing as his arms and legs burned as they rubbed against the wood. Harry came out and realised he was in the stairway of one of the stands, but the snitch was still hovering there, as if it was waiting for him. Forgetting his injuries he grinned and followed it up, flying up the stairs, he reached the entrance and just before the snitch could get away Harry reached out and caught it, he hit his arm off of the wood and was pretty sure he'd broken his wrist so he switched the hand holding the snitch and then shot through the flap to screams.

Harry emerged into the teachers stand and flew past Draco, nearly knocking him off to which the Slytherin exclaimed, 'What the fuck Potter?'

'Malf – Black! Language!' McGonagall reprimanded, although she was jumping up and down because the fact Harry had caught the snitch meant that Gryffindor had won the match.

'He's alright, and he has the snitch! Gryffindor win, 260-110!' Hermione exclaimed jumping up and down and wrapping her arms around Draco, 'which means Gryffindor now have 600 points and have won the Quidditch cup!'

Harry cheered loudly and let a few tears fall as he flew to the ground, trying to steady himself and block out the searing pain running through him. He landed clumsily on the ground and immediately Madam Pomfrey approached with a stretcher. Hermione took the sonorous charm off of herself and hurried to the pitch with Draco, when they got there Daphne, Sadie, Theo Hannah and Susan were already there, along with the rest of the team.

'Just a broken wrist, and rib Madam Pomfrey, and probably some burns from the friction on his arms and legs,' Hannah was saying to the mediwitch, she had been helping her out a lot recently around the hospital wing so Madam Pomfrey would give Hannah a reference when she left.

'Sort out the wrist please Hannah,' Pomfrey said as she cast a spell on Harry's chest which took the pain away.

'A numbing charm or a prop charm?' Hannah asked and Pomfrey replied, 'a numbing charm for now.'

Hannah cast the charm and the stretcher was lifted as Madam Pomfrey took Harry to the hospital wing.

'We won the cup!' Harry said giddily to the rest of the team as they hurried behind the stretcher with the rest of Harry's friends.

'We did it Harry!' Ginny said with a grin, 'told you that we would!'

'Trust you to end up in the hospital after your last Quidditch match,' Daphne said with a chuckle and Harry laughed happily, 'I don't care, I don't care about anything right now because we won it!'

A strange look glanced across Ginny's face and even in the numb state he was in, which made his head feel quite fuzzy, he realised it was because the last time this had happened they had kissed, and ended up dating. For a moment Harry felt guilty, but then the happiness came back again and he giggled all the way to the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey assured his friends that it was just the numbing charms taking effect and that Harry wasn't actually going mad.

Everyone was made to wait outside, apart from Hannah, while Madam Pomfrey mended Harry's broken bones.

'Good game,' Daphne said to the team, 'You are an amazing chaser Ginny, are you taking it further?'

Ginny grinned happily, 'Well there was a scout at this game from the Holyhead Harpies,' she admitted.

'Wow, the Holyhead Harpies, good luck, I really hope you get it!' Daphne said, happy for her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend. Ginny grinned broadly and thanked Daphne.

Everybody made small talk as they waited for news on Harry, but nobody was too worried because his injuries hadn't seemed that serious.

'I hope he doesn't have to stay the night, otherwise the party tonight will be kind of pointless since he was the hero of the match,' Hermione mused, biting her lip.

'I'm sure he'll be fine, Pomfrey has a soft spot for him, she'll let him out,' Daphne said, fairly confident of this.

At that moment the doors opened and Hannah came out with a smile, she had slightly bloody hands which worried everyone for a moment, 'He's okay,' she said, 'the friction burns were bad, so we had to get rid of the damaged skin and replace it, which hurt him a lot so he was knocked out for it. His rib and his wrist are mended just fine though.'

She pushed the door open wider, 'He's awake, and Pomfrey says you can all come in but you must stay quiet.'

With that the group noisily made their way into the hospital wing, making Hannah roll her eyes.

Daphne greeted her boyfriend with a kiss and the others all said well done and congratulations on the match and how close it had been, and how it had been the best match in Hogwarts history and the like.

'So when are you getting out of here?' Daphne asked with a smile and Harry, who had been happy and bright since he'd seen his friends, sighed, his face fell, 'she's making me stay the night.'

'What? Why?' Daphne asked, and Hermione looked disappointed too.

'She says my skin needs to heal, and that it won't until sometime late tonight,' Harry said glumly, he'd finally won and he had to spend the night in the hospital wing instead of celebrating.

'That sucks so much,' Hermione said sadly, but Harry just shrugged and said with a forced smile, 'hey, don't worry about me, enjoy the party.'

'Okay, that's long enough!' Madam Pomfrey said sternly, 'Mr. Potter has a lot of skin to regrow tonight, he needs rest, out!'

There was protest, but Madam Pomfrey was insistent so the gang glumly filed out of the hospital wing, Daphne kissed Harry on the cheek before she left and when the doors shut Harry sighed sadly and shut his eyes.

It was a pretty crappy ending to a damn good day.

_**TBC **_

_**Songs Used:**_

_**Boston: More Than a Feeling**_

_**Queen: Don't Stop Me Now**_


	58. Mission Impossible

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 58 – Mission Impossible**

'Dragon, are you ready?'

'Ready, fox.'

'Otter?'

'Ready, fox.'

'Can you stop referring to us with animal names and can we just do this?' Susan asked, raising an eyebrow at Daphne.

Daphne and Hermione were both dressed from head to toe in black, as were Susan, Draco and Theo.

'Okay, so does everyone know the plan?'

'Yeah, we know the plan,' Theo said, 'it's not hard to remember, can we get going now?'

'Fine,' Daphne said rolling her eyes at them all, she opened up the Marauders Map and threw Harry's invisibility cloak over her and Hermione.

Draco, Theo and Susan disillusioned themselves and blended in with the colours of the common room and the group left the common room. This group were going because they were the best at the charms, and the least clumsy.

They made their way silently along the 7th floor and out onto the grand staircase. They didn't pass anyone on their way down it and only actually bumped into someone when they entered the 1st floor corridor.

Filch was skulking about and nearly walked into Hermione and Daphne who thankfully managed to hold their breath long enough for the caretaker to walk past them. It wasn't very often that he was around the corridors these days, but then again they were very near one of Peeves' favourite haunts.

'Okay,' Daphne whispered when they reached the large double doors into the hospital wing, 'diversion time.'

Draco and Theo nodded, although nobody could really see it because they were the same colour as the wall behind them. Reaching into his pocket Draco threw a small circular object shaped like a mine, Theo stood on it to activate it and instantly the corridor was engulfed in darkness. There was also a very loud bang with brought Madam Pomfrey out of the hospital wing, and Filch back into the corridor. Holding the hand of glory, which Draco had let her borrow, Hermione led herself and Daphne into the hospital wing through the darkness, they were the only ones who could see what they were doing.

Once they were inside the girls gently pushed the doors shut and magically locked them, Pomfrey would get through, but it would take her some time.

Daphne took the cloak off and hurried over to the bed where Harry was lying awake, she grinned as she threw him some clothes, 'get changed, we've got a party to get you too.'

Harry grinned and changed at top speed, Daphne grabbed his hand and pulled him over to a portrait by Pomfrey's office, Hannah had told her about it. She tickled the portrait and it pushed back, revealing a doorway which the trio rushed through, pushing the door shut behind them.

'Where are we?' Harry asked, and Hermione replied, 'Madam Pomfreys brewing lab, there's an exit into the corridor this way, so be quiet because they will still be out there.'

Harry nodded and let Hermione throw the cloak over him and Daphne, they all fitted under it, but they had to stoop to do so. Hermione entered a code into another portrait with a blackboard full of numbers inside it, and the portrait opened. Carefully the trio made their way into the corridor where the blackness was beginning to fade. Pomfrey and Filch were talking, and Madam Pomfrey was trying to figure out why she couldn't get back into the Hospital Wing, they were blocking the entrance to the grand staircase so the trio had to take another route to the common room. They made their way outside into the fairly warm air and crossed the stone bridge, then they re-entered the school in another part of the 1st floor where they made their way through the deserted corridors onto the grand staircase.

Despite being away from the scene of the crime, they didn't speak or take the cloak off until they entered the 7th floor corridor where Draco and Theo were waiting, they had taken the disillusionment charm off of themselves.

'Thanks for breaking me out,' Harry said with a grin to them all as the girls flung the cloak off and breathed fresh air again.

'It was a pretty good plan, don't you think?' Hermione asked happily as they made their way to the entrance to the 8th year tower.

'Yeah, it was brilliant!' Harry said happily, wincing only a little as he began to make his way up the spiral staircase.

'It was my idea,' Daphne said smugly and Harry laughed at this, 'I should have known,' he said as he kissed her. He was silent as he concentrated on getting up the stairs without twisting too much, but when he reached the top of the stairs Harry was surprised by the shout of, 'Congratulations Harry!' that came from the portrait of the Marauders.

Harry grinned as his Father said proudly, 'Brilliant Quidditch player my boy, so proud of you!'

Harry's grin got even broader at that, and then Daphne led him into the common room which erupted with cheering and so the party began.

* * *

><p>Things didn't get out of hand until about 2.30 in the morning, which was really a record for the 8th years.<p>

Harry was drinking butterbeer, slowly, because as much as he was enjoying the party he was still feeling slightly tender, when he hatched a plan with Draco and Neville to play a joke on Theo. They sat and schemed for 5 or 10 minutes and then Theo made his way over to them from where he'd been talking to Sadie.

'Hey guys,' Theo said cheerfully, as he sat down on the armchair by the fire, he was slightly drunk, as usual.

'Theo,' Neville said, putting his serious face on, 'we need to tell you something.'

'What?' Theo asked, looking slightly worried.

'Well, the Auror department have changed the rules,' Harry said slowly, and Draco nodded, 'they don't put people in teams of two anymore.'

'They put them in groups of 3,' Harry said and Draco nodded glumly.

Neville finished, 'So we decided that the three of us would be a team.'

For a moment Theo gaped and then he got pissed off, 'What? Why would you do that? You guys are such fucking bastards!'

Theo had taken it badly, they had thought he would have gotten the joke a bit better.

'Theo-' Neville began, about to tell Theo that it was a joke, but Theo threw a spell at Neville who had to duck to avoid it, but then Theo tried to hit him again so Neville put up a shield charm and the stupefy spell bounced off and rocketed around the room, hitting off of mirrors. Neville watched in horror as it eventually struck someone.

'Ugh!'

Lavender had taken the full force of the blow, and the spell had hit her directly in the stomach and winded her, she was unconscious in seconds.

Neville and Hannah were by her side in seconds and Harry shouted to the other 8th years, 'Oi! Clear out, get to your dorms!'

Nobody said no to Harry Potter and in 5 minutes the common room was empty apart from those that mattered.

Hannah muttered, 'Enervate' and Lavender slowly came too.

'Lavender, are you okay?' Sadie asked worriedly from where she was kneeling on one side of Lavender with Hannah and Neville. Blaise was watching silently from her other side, but it was clear that he was concerned.

Lavender was confused and disorientated for a moment, 'What happened?'

'You were hit with a rebounding stupefy spell,' Hannah said gently and Lavender looked anxious, 'Where?' she asked quickly.

Hannah frowned, 'In the stomach, why?'

'Oh Merlin, no,' Lavender said, 'Take me to the hospital wing, please.'

'What's wrong?' Hannah asked, confused as to the way that Lavender was acting.

'I'm pregnant Hannah,' Lavender admitted, which surprised everybody within hearing range, including Blaise.

'You fucking _bastard_,' Blaise said, his voice low and harsh, he got to his feet and with brute force and ignorance he picked Theo up by the neck and held him against the wall.

'Blaise!' Draco exclaimed and Neville jumped up as Theo began to go blue in the face, he grabbed Blaise and pulled him off of the smaller Slytherin, he made a big, muscly guy like Blaise look as light as a feather and Harry, Hermione and Susan gaped in shock.

Hannah was too busy performing some emergency charms on Lavender to check that things were okay to notice what was happening behind her, although she was aware that there was a fight going on.

Neville pushed Blaise onto the sofa and Theo fell to the floor panting for breath, Sadie rushed to him and tried to help him get his breathing back to normal. The moment Neville pushed him onto the sofa Blaise got to his feet and left the common room.

Lavender was a complete wreck, and Hannah was trying to calm her down.

'Look Lavender, you'll be okay, but let me finish checking you out okay?' Hannah said gently, 'please try and stay calm, it's the best thing you can do.'

Lavender nodded and closed her eyes, Hermione had appeared next to Lavender and asked, 'is there anything I can do?'

Lavender answered by grabbing Hermione's hand, Hermione was surprised but didn't take her hand away.

'How far along are you Lavender?' Hannah asked, after casting the appropriate preparation charms she needed to check a few things before checking on Lavenders baby.

'Not long, 2 months I think,' Lavender said, keeping her eyes closed. The others were keeping their distance out of respect to Lavender.

'When did you find out?' Hannah asked as she started to perform the charm that would tell her if things were okay or not.

'Just a few days ago,' Lavender sighed, 'I hadn't told Blaise, I didn't know how to tell him, it was an accident.'

Hannah nodded and Hermione squeezed Lavenders hand. Hannah performed the charm which lit up Lavenders stomach pink, Hermione watched with no idea what her friend was doing, she found medical spells very difficult to understand.

'Okay Lavender, it looks like the baby is okay, it's heartbeat is normal and its movement is about right for how far along you are,' Hannah said as she ended the charm, 'but I think we should take you to Madam Pomfrey, just so she can double check.'

Lavender nodded and Hermione and Daphne helped her up to her feet, Hannah helped too and made sure that Lavender got to her feet okay.

'Sadie, come as well and bring Theo, Harry you should probably come too, Pomfrey will be less angry with us if we give you back,' Daphne said and Harry grumbled jokingly about being used as a bargaining chip.

Sadie and Daphne each took one of Lavenders arms and helped her walk, Hannah made up the front with them while Harry and Hermione trailed behind them as they helped Theo out.

'He's a crazy bastard,' Theo rasped, referring to Blaise.

'It's Blaise, he'd just found out that his girlfriend is pregnant after you'd hit her in the stomach with a bloody stupefy charm, cut him a break,' Harry said, and Hermione echoed his point by saying, 'Think how you'd feel if that happened to Sadie.'

'Yeah okay, I'd hit someone too,' Theo admitted grudgingly.

'It's a bit of surprise, isn't it, Lavender being pregnant?' Harry asked the other two quietly so that Lavender wouldn't hear them.

'Yes,' Hermione admitted, 'but at least it was Blaise, not Seamus, and I think she'll be a good Mother.'

'I wonder how Ron will react,' Harry mused, 'I would write to him and tell him, but it's sort of her business, isn't it?'

'Of course it is!' Hermione said briskly, 'You can't tell anyone about this Harry, she probably feels very scared and ashamed.'

'Alright, I was just wondering,' Harry said, sometimes he was still treated like a clueless 14 year old by Hermione.

They made their way quietly to the 1st floor which was back to normal now. Daphne let Hermione take over with helping Lavender walk and pushed the large double doors open. She hurried into the hospital wing shouting for Madam Pomfrey who hurried out in her nightgown.

'Mr. Potter! How dare you leave the hospital wing when you were here for your own good?!' Pomfrey exclaimed angrily, the moment she saw Harry.

'Look I'm back now, and I'll stay, but there is someone more important for you to attend too,' Harry said, sitting down on a hospital bed, in truth he was in a lot of pain after the party and having to help Theo to the hospital wing.

'She's pregnant Madam Pomfrey, she was hit in the stomach with a stupefy charm' Hannah said as she and Hermione helped Lavender into a bed, 'I did a few basic checks and everything looked okay, but I don't know any of the complicated charms.'

'You did the right thing bringing her here,' Madam Pomfrey said, 'could you attend to Mr. Nott while I deal with Miss. Brown?'

Hannah nodded and with that she pulled a curtain around the bed that Lavender was in.

Hannah sat Theo down on the bed next to Harry and examined his neck, 'it's only bruised Theo,' she said kindly, 'it will hurt for a few days, but it's nothing serious.'

'Can you numb it or something?' Theo asked, as he winced in pain.

'Sure, but if I do you'll have to spend the night in here because you won't be able to move it for about 3 hours,' Hannah informed him, and Theo nodded, 'Yeah, fine, just numb it.'

Hannah chuckled and performed the spell, Theo sighed in relief and Sadie transfigured him into hospital clothes and pulled the covers up over him.

'Stay?' Theo asked quietly and Sadie nodded with a small smile, 'Of course I will.'

Hermione and Daphne were sitting on the edge of Harry's bed waiting for news about Lavender when Hannah joined them.

'Where are you hurting Harry?' Hannah asked and Harry laughed, 'Healers intuition is it?'

Hannah chuckled, 'I guess so, and I saw you wincing in pain in the common room,' she admitted, 'so where does it hurt?'

'It's my right arm,' Harry replied sheepishly, 'I helped Theo here and it hurt a lot.'

'You should have stayed in the hospital wing,' Hannah said as she undid Harry's shirt and pushed it off.

'I know,' Harry said, 'but I wanted to go to the party.'

Hannah took off the bandage down Harry's right arm and Hermione and Daphne both winced when they saw it. The skin was rubbed raw and was an angry red, there was some blood on the bandage. Hannah sighed and patted away the blood with a clean bandage, Harry winced every time she did this and squeezed Daphne's hand hard.

Eventually Hannah was finished, she murmured some charms and put a new bandage on the raw skin, 'take this,' she said, handing him a potion.

Harry drank it straight away, if it would make the pain any better he would take anything, 'You'll be a good healer Hannah,' Harry said as the potion took effect and he felt the pain ebb away.

Hannah smiled at this, 'Thanks Harry, I'm glad you think so.'

'You're much nicer than Pomfrey,' Harry said, making Hannah chuckle, 'I guess so, try and get to sleep, everything should be nicely healed by the time you wake up.'

Harry nodded and smiled at Hannah again.

Madam Pomfrey emerged from the curtain that Lavender was hidden behind.

'Is she okay?' Hermione asked immediately and Madam Pomfrey nodded, she looked tired, 'Miss. Brown and her baby are both fine,' she said with a small smile.

'I gave Theo a numbing charm for the pain in his neck and advised him to stay the night, and I fixed up Harry again, he'd rubbed the right side raw again.'

'Thank you Hannah,' Madam Pomfrey said, 'you will make a good healer one day, but for now get back to bed, you've done a good job here.'

Hannah smiled proudly and Madam Pomfrey turned to Hermione and Daphne, 'Only one person can stay with Miss. Brown, she asked for you Miss. Granger,' she said and with that she made her way back to her office.

Hermione was surprised but Daphne smiled at her and said, 'Go on then,' so Hermione entered the curtain, Hannah left the hospital wing and Daphne made her way over to Harry's hospital bed.

'Hey Hermione,' Lavender said sleepily when Hermione walked in and sat down by the bed.

'Hey,' Hermione said gently.

'I bet you wondered why I asked you to stay, right?' Lavender guessed, reading the bemused look on Hermione's face.

Hermione nodded, she wasn't going to lie, she was confused.

'I think you'll understand most, I know what happened between you and Ron during the war,' Lavender admitted, her eyes were fluttering shut every so often, as if she was finding it hard to keep them open.

'He told me when you two fought, when you kissed Draco and you weren't talking anymore because of what happened between him and Harry,' Lavender explained, 'he told me that he ran away, and I need you to help me because Blaise has run away and I don't know what to do.'

Hermione understood now, and she had never felt so sorry for Lavender before, 'the best thing you can do is to be strong Lavender, you get on with things and do well in your exams and it feels hard and you feel sad but you just have to remember that you can't stop, you have to keep going.'

'Do you think I'll be a good mother Hermione?' Lavender asked, looking at Hermione through heavy eyelids.

'I think so,' Hermione said with a smile, 'and I know this was unexpected, but everything happens for a reason Lavender, I'm sure you'll be an amazing Mother.'

'What about Blaise? What if he doesn't come back?' Lavender asked, through the sleepiness in her voice Hermione could hear panic and she knew Lavender panicking now was a bad idea.

'Hey,' Hermione said as she took Lavenders hand, 'I think he will come back, I think he's probably just surprised and a little bit scared. Being a parent is a hard thing for someone young to come to terms with.'

Lavender nodded weakly, 'I guess so, but his Mother has been a bad example, and he doesn't think he'll be a good Father. You can keep secrets, can't you Hermione? You kept Harry's secrets for a long time, didn't you?'

'I did,' Hermione said, squeezing Lavenders hand.

'Blaise is a werewolf, he got bitten, and he thinks he'll be a bad Father because if he has a baby it will have his werewolf gene,' Lavender said through the haze of sleep in her head, 'but it isn't, Madam Pomfrey said it's perfectly healthy, and that it definitely won't be werewolf at all.'

'Then tell Blaise that,' Hermione said gently, 'he'll come around and when he does you can tell him that.'

'Okay Hermione,' Lavender managed to say quietly.

'Go to sleep Lavender, I promise things will feel better in the morning,' Hermione said comfortingly and Lavender nodded, 'Kay,' she said as she drifted off to sleep.

Hermione smiled slightly as Lavenders hand slipped out of hers and she slipped out of the curtain and napped on the hospital bed next to Lavenders, she was so exhausted.

* * *

><p>When Lavender opened her eyes the hospital wing was dark, all of the lights were out now. It took her a moment to get to grips with where she was, but after blinking her eyes a few times she could see again.<p>

'Hey,' a voice said from beside her, making Lavender jump and turn to the shadow next to her bed.

'Lumos,' he whispered and it was then clear to Lavender that it was Blaise.

'Blaise,' Lavender said under her breath, 'you scared me. How did you get in here?'

Blaise just shrugged, 'You know me, I blend in.'

Lavender couldn't help it, no matter how she felt, that made her smile slightly, 'I didn't think you would come…after…well before.'

'It's Sunday night,' Blaise said, apparently ignoring her previous comment, 'you've been out for a whole day.'

'Oh,' Lavender said, because she didn't really know what else she could say to that.

They were silent for a moment and the atmosphere felt quite awkward, Lavender was desperately searching around in her head for something to say.

'Is…well, is everything okay…with the…you know,' Blaise attempted to ask, not meeting Lavenders eye.

'It's fine,' Lavender said, glad that he at least cared.

'And you're keeping it, yeah?' Blaise asked, keeping his eyes down as he fiddled with a loose screw on the bed post.

'Yeah,' Lavender said carefully, 'I mean, I don't think it would be right to do anything else.'

'Me either,' Blaise said, he hadn't looked up yet, 'things happen for a reason right?'

'Yeah,' Lavender said, slightly bemused. She understood Blaise fairly well but she had no idea how he was feeling or what was going through his head at the moment.

'Why didn't you tell me?' Blaise asked, eventually looking up.

'I didn't know how too,' Lavender said truthfully, 'I knew you would freak out, because of your…condition.'

'People like me…' Blaise trailed off and shook his head, 'my kind shouldn't breed Lavender, it's not right.'

'Blaise you're a person, just like the rest of us, that means you're allowed to live,' Lavender said gently, hoping that he wouldn't lose his temper.

'I'm not human,' Blaise said roughly, 'I'm not just like everyone else. Haven't you thought about what will happen when this baby is born?'

'Of course I have,' Lavender said slightly sharply, 'it's all I've been thinking about since I found out.'

'Then how are two 19 year olds just out of school supposed to raise a child?' Blaise asked, not angrily, but with an undertone of something akin to sadness.

'I've got my journalism job, I don't even have to leave home to write for my column, I'd be making money even while I was pregnant,' Lavender said, she knew her job would be safe regardless of whether or not she was pregnant.

'I'll be gone from 8am to 6pm every day but Sunday,' Blaise informed his girlfriend, 'if we do this you have to realise that, if we're having a child I'm taking this training course seriously, but I won't be earning until I'm qualified enough to shadow a lawyer,' Blaise said, his calm façade still there, but inside he was worrying.

'But we'll be fine until then, and I have my fund from my parents that I got access too when I turned 18,' Lavender said, she looked a little guilty, 'it was supposed to pay me through a course, but I wanted to go straight into work after the war. There is enough there to buy a little place though, if you want too.'

'You've worked this all out, haven't you?' Blaise asked, a smile tugging at his lips.

'It's not ideal, but I know we can do it,' Lavender said, her heart beating out of her chest as she watched him mull it over.

'Alright then,' Blaise said with a small smile, 'I love you Lavender, and I freaked out, but I'd never just leave you out in the cold.'

The smile that lit up Lavenders face made Blaise feel like things would really be okay, and the weight on his shoulders began to get lighter.

'I don't know what we'll do on a full moon,' Blaise sighed as he thought about his condition, 'I can't be around a child, and although you don't transform you won't be able to look after it either.'

'I know,' Lavender said, about to say 'but' when Blaise continued, 'and what if I hurt it? I'm not cut out for this, werewolves don't make good fathers.'

'Oh shut up, you sound like Remus bloody Lupin.'

Blaise spun around and Lavender chuckled.

'Potter! Where you listening in on our conversation?' Blaise asked, glaring at the Gryffindor who was standing by the bed.

'Just the last part,' Harry admitted, 'Lavender, do you want to tell him the good news about the baby?'

'Well, the baby hasn't got the werewolf gene, it will be a perfectly ordinary child,' Lavender said and Blaise seemed to be entirely speechless with relief.

'And we've already talked about what will happen on full moon,' Harry said to Lavender, 'I often look after my Godson, so Daphne and I won't mind taking the baby for one night of the month, if you want us too.'

'Oh Harry,' Lavender said, getting up tenderly to hug her friend, 'I don't deserve a friend like you.'

'Yes you do,' Harry said as Blaise ushered Lavender back into bed.

'I wanted to say congratulations on behalf of us all by the way, and I've had offers from Sadie, Hannah and Hermione on babysitting,' Harry said with a chuckle and Lavender laughed too, 'that's sweet.'

'Concentrate on feeling better for now though,' Harry advised as he said goodnight and made his way back over to his bed.

'I'm sorry about how I reacted,' Blaise murmured and Lavender shook her head, 'I understand.'

'I promise I'll be there from now on,' Blaise said and Lavender smiled, kissing him lightly, 'Thank you.'

_**TBC **_


	59. NEWT's & Nuptials

**The 8****th**** Year**

**Chapter 59 – N.E.W.T's & Nuptials  
><strong>

'Is she okay?'

'She's fine.'

'Are you sure? She kind of looked like a murderer when I saw her…'

'She's just a little stressed.'

'She practically roared at me.'

'Just go up and get her.'

'No, she scares me! You go!'

'No way! She's your girlfriend, you go!'

'You're her best friend, why don't you go?'

At the foot of the stairs to the girls common room there was an argument going on between Harry, Draco, Daphne, Neville, Hannah, Theo, Sadie and Susan as to who would go up the stairs and get Hermione down.

'Why can't we just leave her? She needs the sleep for the charms exam tomorrow,' Draco said, sighing, he was worried about Hermione, she had barely been sleeping or eating over the last few days.

'That's a good idea,' Harry agreed, only slightly worried about Hermione's reaction when she realised nobody had woken her up.

'We should probably head to Divination,' Daphne said, glancing at the clock on the wall, Sadie nodded, looking worried, 'yeah, your right.'

'Stop worrying about it you two, this exam will be the easiest of the lot,' Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

'Good luck,' Theo said with a smile as he kissed his girlfriend goodbye, 'I'm sure you'll be brilliant.'

Sadie smiled and together with Harry, Daphne and Susan she left the common room.

'Did you guys revise?' Susan asked with a chuckle, she was of the same opinion as Harry.

Harry snorted and replied, 'No, how do you revise for an exam that is all based on nonsense?'

'Yeah, that's what I thought too,' Daphne mused, 'I mean I looked at some star charts but that was pretty much it…'

'I revised,' Sadie said, her cheeks flushed pink, 'I looked over the textbook and memorised the star and dream charts.'

'You'll definitely pass then Sadie,' Daphne said with a smile, Sadie was quite like Hermione, she just didn't show how much she was freaking out.

* * *

><p>After going down one staircase and up another the group were exhausted and amongst the last to arrive at the top of the tower where Trelawney was calling everyone in one at a time, in alphabetical order.<p>

There was 5 minutes of tense silence and then, 'Bones, Susan!'

Susan smirked at the others and climbed the silvery ladder.

'I bet she'll get an O,' Daphne said in amusement, 'she's pretty good at coasting through this class.'

'Well it's not difficult is it?' Harry asked teasingly and Daphne smirked her agreement, but Sadie didn't see the funny side as she hopped back and forth between her right and left foot nervously.

Susan returned after about 10 minutes with a wide grin on her face, 'Easy,' she said simply, 'suppose I better get back to the common room and wake Hermione up so she doesn't kill any of us.'

Harry laughed and said, 'Good luck with that.'

Next up was Lavender who was gone even less time than Susan and came out looking just as happy.

After that Sadie was called up and looking like she might faint made her way up the ladder into the room.

'How do you think she'll do?' Harry asked Daphne the moment the trapdoor shut.

Daphne chuckled and shook her head, 'She'll be fine,' she said with a smile, 'Sadie has this tendency to worry about her exams a lot and then come out with O's.'

'So she's basically the Slytherin equivalent of Hermione,' Harry remarked making Daphne laugh again, 'Exactly.'

Daphne and Harry were confirmed as right when Sadie emerged once more 10 minutes later with a large smile on her face.

'How did it go?' Daphne asked, sharing an amused look with Harry.

'Good, I think!' Sadie said brightly, 'Trelawney seemed pretty impressed!'

'Told you that you would be brilliant,' Daphne said as she hugged her friend, she and Sadie had gotten closer since Tracey's death.

'I better get back to the common room, Mione will be freaking out with Charms tomorrow,' Sadie said with a chuckle, 'Good luck guys!'

As she hurried off Isabelle was called into the room and was the longest in there yet. When she emerged after 15 minutes Seamus was called up and lasted longer yet.

Finally Trelawney got to 'G' and Daphne was called into the room.

'Good luck,' Harry said as he kissed her on the cheek, 'not that you need it.'

Daphne smirked and ascended the ladder.

'Ah Miss. Greengrass,' Trelawney said with a smile, 'do take a seat.'

Daphne sat down across from Trelawney at a table with a cup of tea and a crystal ball on it.

'Now there is no need to feel worried Miss. Greengrass, all I will ask you to do today is look into the crystal ball and read some tealeaves. I will also ask you some questions about your dreams and the position of the stars,' Trelawney said, keeping her voice steady and smiling at the girl, Daphne had a feeling that she, Susan and Harry were the Professors favourites.

Daphne nodded and Trelawney said, 'Then we shall begin. Can you explain to me one of the dreams you've had in the last month?'

Daphne hated this part, she didn't remember her dreams very well, but she did remember one she'd had only the night before very vividly so she began to describe it, 'I was with my friend Sadie, we were on the beach but it was snowing…I think it means that hard times are ahead, that the sunshine is going to be gone soon.'

Trelawney had been nodding constantly throughout this and smiled when Daphne finished, 'Fantastic, now, can you tell me what the position of mars is at this point in the year?'

'It's June so...' Daphne thought for a moment, 'Mars is in the sign of the Gemini, which means that it is scattered, and that those born at this time will likely be feisty.'

'A textbook answer my dear,' Trelawney said proudly, 'Now, tell me, what do you see in the crystal ball?'

Daphne looked into the ball and tried to clear her mind, Trelawney kindly told her to take her time. The fog gradually started to create shapes and through it Daphne could make out the shape of a wizarding hat, and then a boat.

'I see a hat, and a boat, and professor McGonagall,' Daphne said honestly, and Trelawney nodded vigorously, 'ah, the graduation I presume my dear.'

Daphne looked closer, and a scene began to materialise, 'I see myself on a boat with Sadie, and it's dark, we're on the lake with Hagrid.'

'Excellent,' Trelawney said, 'that is quite enough my dear.'

Daphne took her eyes away from the crystal ball, she knew Harry didn't believe in this branch of magic, but it worked for her.

'When you are ready my dear drink your tea so we may look at the bottom of the cup,' Trelawney said and with another nod Daphne picked up the cup and began to drink the lukewarm tea.

'Were you close to your Grandmother Miss. Greengrass?' Trelawney asked curiously as Daphne drank her tea.

Daphne frowned at the question, 'On my Mother's side yes, I was very fond of her, but not on my Father's side.'

Trelawney appeared thoughtful, 'Your Grandmother on your Mother's side was known to have been part seer, I believe you share some of her gift.'

Daphne hadn't heard that before, but it made sense, she'd always found this class easy, and not because she lied her way through it, although she did make up a lot of dreams for the dream diary assignments. She finished her tea and looked into her cup to read the leaves.

'I see an angel,' Daphne said slowly, 'which I believe means good fortune in love,' she turned the cup slightly, 'and I also see a bell which I think means good luck', Daphne said. She was worried that she wasn't doing so well in this part, she usually got at least one bad omen in her cup. She turned the cup once more and looked in it again, narrowing her eyes to make sure she got the symbol right, 'and here I see…uhh a cake, I think but I'm not entirely sure on the meaning.'

'Perfect,' Trelawney said and Daphne looked up to see her smiling.

'Would you like to know the full reading of your cup?' Trelawney asked kindly and Daphne nodded.

'The angel does mean good fortune in love, you were entirely correct about that and you were also correct about the bell being a symbol of good luck. However there are 2 bells in your cup, which indicates that a wedding is nearby. The cake you saw was perfectly correct, but it is a wedding cake which symbols a fast and prosperous marriage in the near future,' Trelawney said smiling and Daphne had to admit, she was slightly taken aback.

'Okay, thank you Professor,' Daphne said, hoping she would be told she was allowed to go now.

Trelawney merely nodded and said, 'That will be all, well done Miss. Greengrass.'

Daphne rushed out of the attic room and made her way down the ladder where Harry was waiting with a smile on his face, Daphne forced a smile and said, 'fine,' when he asked how it had been.

Harry frowned, Daphne seemed distracted, 'Are you okay?'

Daphne nodded, 'Yeah fine, I'm gonna head back to the common room, see you later.'

Harrys frown deepened as Daphne rushed away down the stairs, he wanted to go after her, but he couldn't, he knew he would be second to last into the room, but he couldn't risk running after her and missing his exam. Harry sighed, he assumed Daphne just hadn't done as well in her exam as she hoped and that was why she was upset. After all, he couldn't think of any other reason for her mood to change so quickly.

Harry waited patiently for Megan and the Patil twins to do their exam, 30 minutes later he was called into the room after standing around awkwardly with just Tessie Pritchard for 10 minutes.

'Potter, Harry!'

Harry didn't feel nervous until he made his way up the ladder into the thankfully fog and fume free room. He walked over to the table in the middle of the room where Trelawney was waiting for him and took his seat across from her.

'Good morning Mr. Potter,' Trelawney said with a smile, 'I am just going to ask you some questions and then there will be a crystal ball reading and the reading of some tealeaves.'

'Okay,' Harry said, fairly confident he could make up enough rubbish to get through this.

'Can you tell me anything about the position of Mars?' Trelawney asked and Harry immediately started to think 'oh shit', because there hadn't been questions in his O.W.L exam.

'Uhh,' Harry floundered, desperately trying to remember the things they'd learned in class about star signs, 'it's in the star sign of this month which is…the twin one…um, Gemini,' Harry said, getting to the answer eventually, he glanced at Trelawney who had a small smile on her face and was nodding, 'which means?'

'That people who were born in June are angry,' Harry guessed and Trelawney was attempting not to laugh.

'Okay Mr. Potter, can you explain a dream you had recently and its significance,' Trelawney said and again Harry hadn't expected this question so he searched around his head trying to remember a dream.

'Umm well I was walking through a dark forest and I saw a badger eating a ferret, then the badger died,' Harry told Trelawney as he thought of the night before when Susan had given Draco a dead arm for disturbing her revision by asking her if she thought he was sexier than Neville. It wasn't a dream, but it was close enough.

Trelawney didn't quite look convinced, she was even smirking a little, 'So I guess the significance of it is that no matter how strong you are, a weaker opponent can eat-I mean kill you.'

'I see,' Trelawney said, taking a note down on her piece of parchment, 'Can you look into the crystal ball for me Mr. Potter and tell me what you see?'

Harry looked into the crystal ball and saw fog, fog and yet more fog. He tried to narrow his eyes and look deep, he even cleared his mind and he managed to make out a faint shape.

'I see a ring,' Harry said, because there was some sort of circular thing that looked ring like and it was close enough, 'it's golden and shiny,' he added, although this was all complete bullshit.

'Ah,' Trelawney said, actually believing him now, her eyes lit up, 'I see an engagement in the future Mr. Potter.'

Harry frowned slightly, he did have the engagement ring for Daphne, but he hadn't put any thought into when he would propose yet.

'Do you see anything else?' Trelawney asked and after a further 5 minutes of staring Harry concluded that he didn't. After that there was an awkward few minutes when Harry tried to drink his tea as fast as he could. When he eventually finished it he looked into the cup, trying to make shapes out of blobs and relate them to things in the textbook that he barely remembered.

'I see a,' Harry squinted slightly into the cup, 'tree, which means that I'm going to be happy in the future,' Harry guessed, he remembered something about certain trees being good omens. He turned the cup and tried to make a shape of another blob, 'and I see a foot which means I'm going to move forward…in life.'

Harry chanced a glance at Trelawney who was watching him with a raised eyebrow, he had so failed this exam. He turned the cup for the final time and actually saw something, he didn't have to make it up for once, 'oh wait! I see a bird, which means something is going to free me…from something.'

'That's enough Mr. Potter,' Trelawney said and Harry looked up at his vaguely amused teacher, 'An adequate attempt, would you like me to explain the meaning of your cup?'

Harry thought it was all nonsense, but he nodded regardless.

'The tree you identified was in fact an elm tree which implies that happiness is coming your way. The foot you saw suggests that you will take a decisive step in a matter that will lead to an eventful change in your life, and the bird you saw was in fact a magpie. There are 3 small magpies in your cup Mr. Potter, which leads me to believe that there is a wedding in your near future.'

'Oh,' Harry said, surprised by the reading, he was actually taking it quite seriously too.

'That is all Mr. Potter,' Trelawney said with a smile so Harry got to his feet and left the attic room, ignoring Tessie as she asked how he thought he did. As Harry made his way down the stairs of the north tower he couldn't stop his mind from straying to the engagement ring hidden in his dorm room. Was this a sign that he should propose to Daphne? It did feel right, things between them were as great as ever, and they were really starting to settle into their relationship now. As Harry pondered this he wondered how to do it, before or after they left Hogwarts? It took him twice as long to get down the staircase because his thoughts were so scattered.

* * *

><p>When Daphne burst into her dorm room and threw herself onto her bed she was hoping that she was alone, but she wasn't.<p>

'Daph, what's wrong?'

Daphne didn't need to look up to know that the voice belonged to Sadie. After Tracey's death the dorms had been changed slightly, Sadie had taken Gabrielle's bed in Daphne and Hermione's room and Gabrielle had replaced Sadie in her dorm with Hannah and a few others.

'Nothing,' Daphne lied.

'Did the exam go badly?' Sadie asked, and Daphne shook her head, she sat up and groaned, 'No, well at least not really, I definitely passed.'

'Then what's wrong?' Sadie asked as she sat down on the edge of her friend's bed.

'Well, you'll think it's stupid…my tea leaf reading…it was all about marriage and love and changes,' Daphne said, biting her lip, 'I think that Harry is going to propose.'

'I don't think it's stupid,' Sadie said straight away, 'I totally believe in Divination, do you really think Harry will propose?'

'I don't know, I mean he might do I guess. Neville proposed to Hannah, and you and Theo are engaged,' Daphne said, a frown forming, 'but you guys have been together for longer than us, and I mean we're only 19 years old…'

'Daph, you're freaking out,' a new voice said, making Daphne jump, she looked over to Susan's bed where the Hufflepuff was in the most unusual stance.

'Susan, what are you doing?' Sadie asked, giggling at the redhead.

'Oh, just hanging out,' Susan replied with a smile. She had her knees over the top of her four-poster bed and was hanging upside down, her long red hair flowing over most of her face.

'So, do you not want Harry to propose?' Susan asked casually, and Daphne groaned, leaning back to hit her head off of the headboard, 'I don't know, part of me does and the other part of me is terrified.'

'You're scared of commitment,' Sadie commented with a small smile, 'I was amazed when things got serious between you and Harry, but he's so fantastic Daph and I know you love him, despite him being a Gryffindor and a hero and all that.'

'Yeah, she loves him,' Susan agreed, 'but can you imagine being married to a specky git for the rest of your life? It's a tough decision.'

Daphne laughed and threw a pillow at Susan, who managed to maintain her balance, 'Percy might be badass now, but he was worse than Harry at one point with his glasses.'

'Ah whatever,' Susan said, blowing away her hair so she could see properly, 'the point is I love him anyway, I could deal with him for the rest of my life if he asked. Is that how you feel about Harry?'

'Sort of,' Daphne admitted thoughtfully, 'the only thing holding me back is the fact that he's the chosen one and that will never go away. He'll always be this esteemed hero and I guess I just don't want to be his trophy wife.'

'You wouldn't be,' Sadie assured her friend, 'people will recognise Harry in the street and everything and people will know who he is, but it will die down.'

'Every year when the anniversary comes it will get bad again though, everyone will remember him and he'll be famous again for a few months,' Susan reminded Daphne, 'you have to be aware of that if you're making a commitment to life.'

'I don't know why your all putting so much thought into it anyway,' another new voice said, 'Divination is complete rubbish, your relying on a bunch of bloody leaves in a cup.'

Daphne rolled her eyes, she recognised the voice, but the comment was enough to tell her who had spoken anyway, 'Hermione, divination isn't completely useless.'

Hermione rolled her eyes back from where she was hidden by her curtains, she pulled them open and said, 'yes it is, it's such an unreliable branch of magic.'

'What about the prophecy about Harry?' Sadie asked, 'that was a real prediction, it was scarily true. You can't say that it never works.'

'Yeah, and what about the prediction Trelawney made in third year, Harry told me about that one, and it came true too,' Daphne added, they were both ganging up on Hermione now.

'And there have been times when a seer has reported a murder hours before it's happened to the Ministry,' Susan said, turning her head slightly to look at Hermione from her perch, 'how do you explain that?'

'Easily,' Hermione said rather smugly, 'the seer that reported it is obviously the bloody killer.'

Daphne and Susan both laughed at this, and Daphne said, 'She has a point, remember that crazy cat lady seer who reported the death of like 10 cats and then they were all found under her patio?'

'Yeah,' Sadie agreed with a chuckle, 'but there are other times when it works, like the seers who work as unspeakables to track down missing people.'

'Exactly,' Susan added nodding vigorously which was amusing giving her position, 'and they work with Aurors too to find killers and stuff.'

'So maybe it works sometimes,' Hermione said sheepishly, 'but that doesn't mean you can always rely on it. What if Harry doesn't propose now and you feel disappointed?'

'From what I've gathered from this conversation she'd be glad if he didn't,' Susan joked and Daphne laughed too, 'I would be shocked if he did, but not necessarily in a bad way.

'I know what you mean,' Hermione agreed thoughtfully, looking up from her charms revision, 'I doubt Draco will propose anytime soon.'

'What would you say if he did?' Daphne asked curiously, Hermione got a small smile on her face, 'I'd say yes, I know I love him and ex death eater or not I'd weather any storm with him.'

'Wow,' Susan said, swinging down from her perch and lying on her bed normally, 'that was so cheesy I thought I was gonna barf.'

Hermione laughed and said, 'Well, I don't care. I'm a hopeless romantic.'

Daphne smiled fondly at her friend and said, 'Wanna know a secret? Deep down, so am I.'

'Well I'm not,' Susan said, although the others knew this, 'but I do want to get married someday.'

'I think almost every girl does,' Sadie said with a grin, 'Theo and I are just adding the finishing touches to our wedding, it sounds weird saying that while we're studying for exams, but I don't care.'

'Speaking of exams,' Susan said, reaching down and grabbing a textbook from under her bed, 'Can somebody please summarise what we learnt this year? I have literally paid no attention.'

There was laughter around the room as the others helped Susan out with her revision, and as quickly as the thought had come to worry her Daphne forgot all about the issue of Harry and proposals.

* * *

><p>Draco and Neville were sitting together in the common room, both silently looking their charms books and notes trying to remember how to do easy charms, when something interesting happened over by the fire where the girls and Theo were lounging, all holding books, apart from Theo.<p>

'Yeah, I think he will propose,' Hermione was saying, they had just come down from the dorm room and this was obviously a continuation of an earlier conversation, 'I mean I know Harry pretty well and he's probably thinking it's the right time, I bet he'll want to do it before he leaves Hogwarts too.'

Draco frowned, Harry was proposing to Daphne? He hadn't told him that!

'Shit,' Draco muttered, Harry couldn't propose before he did, that wasn't fair, it was just not going to happen.

'Psst! Theo!' Draco tried to loudly whisper, but as Theo was on the other side of the common room it ended up being more like a hushed shout.

'What?' Theo asked loudly as he spun around.

'Come here,' Draco said, in that weird whisper shout way.

'Why?' Theo asked lazily.

'Just come over here,' Draco hissed in annoyance, so Theo rolled his eyes, got to his feet and sauntered over to Draco, 'what?'

'What are you doing on Saturday?' Draco asked cryptically.

'Why?' Theo asked again, and Draco had to resist the urge to hit him.

'I need to go ring shopping,' Draco said quietly and Theo's eyes widened, 'Oh! Really? Cool,' he thought for a moment, 'I'm sorry mate, but I can't, Sadie and me are finalising wedding stuff all weekend,' he said, and he looked like he genuinely felt sorry that he couldn't help.

'What, seriously?' Draco sighed sadly, 'I guess I'll just have to take fatbottom instead then.'

'You realise I can hear you, right?' Neville asked, vaguely amused from the table next to Draco.

'Whatever fatbottom,' Draco said lazily, 'well I understand that you can't do it Theo, I guess he'll have to do.'

Theo said sorry again and sauntered back over to Sadie and the girls, so Draco turned to Neville, 'Hey Nev, you busy on Saturday?'

Neville shook his head in amusement, 'Seriously?'

'What?' Draco asked innocently with an amused smile.

'I actually am Draco,' Neville replied, also looking quite guilty, 'I'm taking Hannah out for lunch in Hogsmeade, but you should ask Harry, I don't think he's busy.'

'Ugh, I'm going to have to take scarhead, really?' Draco asked in mock disgust, 'but he has no taste at all.'

Neville sniggered at that, he knew the ring Harry had chosen for Daphne and it proved that his fellow Gryffindor definitely had taste. Draco ignored him and got back to work.

* * *

><p>When Harry walked into the common room he was cornered immediately by Draco who practically pushed him against the wall, it was rather alarming.<p>

'Hey Harry, are you busy on Saturday?' Draco asked very quickly, reminding him of Colin Creevey.

'No…' Harry replied slowly and Draco sighed in relief, 'thank Merlin, everyone is busy and I need someone to come ring shopping with me.'

Harry raised an eyebrow at the Slytherin, 'everyone else is busy so I'm the last person you asked?' he asked in amusement, 'gee thanks Draco.'

'Merlin Pothead stop acting like such a girl,' Draco said as he rolled his eyes.

'If you're trying to convince me that isn't the way to do it,' Harry joked as he and Draco walked towards the fire where the others were all sitting.

'I'll buy you an ice cream sundae,' Draco suggested and with a chuckle Harry said, 'that's better, you've got a deal.'

The pair disbanded at the fire, Draco going to sit with Hermione on an armchair and Harry squeezing in-between Daphne and Susan on the sofa.

'Hey love,' Harry said, kissing Daphne lightly, 'are you okay? You were acting kinda weird after the exam.'

'I'm fine,' Daphne said with a smile, 'I just thought I'd done badly but when I got back and thought about it I'm pretty sure I've passed.'

'How did you get on Harry?' Susan asked from his other side.

'Badly,' Harry replied, shaking his head in disbelief at how bad it had been, 'I didn't expect her to ask questions so I talked so much rubbish.'

'What questions did she ask you?' Daphne asked curiously and Harry replied, 'something about the position of mars and a dream description.'

'She asked me the same two,' Daphne realised in surprise and Susan nodded, 'yeah me too, I think they were the standard exam questions. How can you mess up those questions?'

'Well I made up a dream and said something about a badger and a ferret eating each other,' Harry said and got hit by a quill that came from an area of the common room very near Draco.

'What are you saying about me?' Draco asked with narrowed eyes.

'Oi, I wasn't talking about you this time!' Harry said back, turning back to a sniggering Susan and a vaguely amused Daphne, 'and I said something about twins and people being angry for the mars question.'

Susan laughed and said, 'Well your close enough with the mars question, Merlin knows about the dream one though.'

Daphne was chuckling, 'I'm sure you did enough to pass, even if it is an A.'

'Well, enough about that one,' Harry said as he nabbed Daphne's charms textbook out of her hands, 'and onto the next one.'

* * *

><p>Hermione was remarkably calm on the morning of the charms exam which Harry and Draco decided was her new way of channelling her stress.<p>

'Are you going to eat?' Draco asked carefully when he sat down next to his girlfriend at the table.

Hermione shook her head and took a deep breath, 'No, I'll eat after.'

'So how was your therapy session with Trelawney last night?' Harry asked, hiding his smirk behind his goblet of pumpkin juice. Due to Hermione's stress being 'significant enough to affect her everyday life' McGonagall had been forced to send her to a compulsory therapy session.

Hermione smiled which surprised Harry who was expecting an eye roll, 'it was good actually, I'm feeling quite confident.'

'Okay,' Harry said, and he shot a confused look at Draco who merely shrugged, he was probably grateful that Hermione wasn't shouting or crying every 10 minutes.

'I'm going to do some last minute studying before the exam,' Hermione decided and she left the hall, leaving Harry and Neville to ponder whether Trelawney had brainwashed her, or poisoned her.

Whatever Trelawney had done, it had worked, Hermione was calm throughout the rest of the day, even before the exam and then after it she came out happy that she'd done well. It was like Trelawney had sucked all the stress out of her, it was kind of freaky.

On Friday Theo took his written Astronomy exam during the day and was pretty sure he'd done well and then had the practical exam late that night on the Astronomy tower. He nearly got disqualified by the examiner for making a Dumbledore joke, he hadn't realised that the examiner was Elphias Doge… after that bad start to the exam he then fell asleep and drooled on his paper, but he was still determined he'd passed.

Hermione's calmness stuck for a while, although she was still nervous and constantly had her head stuck in a book, but she spent the weekend mixing her revision with fun, she even let Daphne take her out for a coffee on Saturday.

This was all part of Draco's plan for Hermione to not notice he was gone of course, otherwise she might suspect what he was planning, so the moment the girls left the castle Draco and Harry followed them and apparated to the Diagon Alley before they could be seen.

Harry smirked as they ended up in the same jewellery shop he'd bought Daphne's ring in, 'So,' he said as they browsed the shelves, 'what kind of thing are you looking for?'

'Simple and elegant,' Draco said with a soft smile, 'elegant like Hermione.'

'Merlin, when did you become such a romantic?' Harry teased, and Draco chuckled at this, 'hey, haven't you heard the rumours about you proposing to Daphne? Shouldn't you be looking for a ring?'

'What rumours?' Harry asked, vaguely amused.

Draco sniggered as he replied, 'Daphne's tea reading in the divination exam, apparently it all pointed towards love and marriage so everyone thinks you're going to propose.'

'Hmm,' Harry said thoughtfully with a slight smirk.

'So you better get looking Potter,' Draco joked, and at this Harry grinned, 'oh I don't need too.'

Draco frowned as he turned to face his friend, 'What do you mean?'

'I've already got Daphne's ring, it's hidden away in our dorm,' Harry said, still smirking, he rarely surprised Draco.

'And you didn't tell me?' Draco asked, sounding offended, 'who did you shop with?'

'It was meant to be a surprise, hardly anyone knows,' Harry said casually, 'I was helping Nev pick a ring for Hannah and I saw the perfect ring for Daphne so I bought it.'

'You still should have told me,' Draco huffed slightly, turning back to the counter to admire rings.

'You've got a hard neck, I was the last person you bloody asked to come with you today,' Harry said jokingly as he too looked at the many rings.

'Well, I asked you, and that's the part that matters isn't it?' Draco said with an air of sentimentality.

'I'm not really offended Draco,' Harry said with a smile, 'I've sort of accepted that although we are quartet there are times when it's me and Nev and you and Theo,' he said thoughtfully.

'You're starting to sound like Dumbledore again,' Draco remarked with an amused glint in his eye.

'I can't say I mind too much,' Harry said truthfully, wondering when Draco would ask the inevitable question, and then he did.

'So, if you have the ring, when are you proposing?' Draco asked with narrowed eyes.

'I don't know,' Harry lied, and he was pretty sure Draco could tell he was lying so he added, 'I've got ideas, but we'll talk about it after. Come on let's get this ring.'

It took far longer for Draco to find a ring than it had taken Theo, Neville or Harry, which was typical really. They had been in the shop for almost half an hour and they had looked at practically every ring in the shop when one finally caught Draco's eye.

He asked to have a closer look and the store assistant handed it to him while Harry looked on from beside him. The ring was expensive, but this was to be expected from Draco, and it was 18ct gold with a circular diamond in the centre, it was definitely simple (but bloody expensive for simple) and it was also elegant.

'What do you think?' Draco asked Harry eagerly.

'Honestly, I think it's perfect, on the condition that you never _ever _tell her how much it cost,' Harry said in amusement and Draco rolled his eyes, 'I wonder if she'll ever realise I'm rich so I don't care.'

'Oh I doubt it,' Harry said with a chuckle as Draco grinned and told the store assistant he'd take it.

10 minutes and 600 Galleons later Draco and Harry were sitting in the newly reopened ice cream parlour.

Draco shook his head at Harry as their ice creams arrived, Harry's was full of chocolate and caramel, 'What is it with you and sweet stuff?'

Harry smirked, 'What is it with you purebloods and spending a fortune on everything?'

Draco looked at his friend in amusement, 'Harry, you're a pureblood.'

'No,' Harry corrected smugly, 'I'm a half-blood actually, my Mother was a Muggle-born.'

'Technically you're a quarter blood,' Draco pointed out through a spoonful of vanilla ice cream, 'you would be a half-blood if your Mother had been a Muggle.'

'Either way, I don't spend money like you and Theo,' Harry said as he swallowed a rather large mouthful of ice cream and got brain freeze.

'We don't do it on purpose,' Draco said honestly, 'I didn't pick that ring because of the price, I picked it because it was what I liked. I suppose the whole rich pureblood thing isn't that we spend a fortune on things because we can…it's that we have the money to have whatever we want which means we tend to buy the more expensive things.'

'Well, if you're all so rich I might change my plans for Theo and Sadie's wedding present,' Harry joked, he hadn't told Draco about his plans yet but he was going too.

'What are you getting them for their wedding?' Draco asked curiously, he hadn't even thought about that yet even though the wedding was a month away and Draco was the best man.

'Well, you have to promise to keep it quiet, I haven't even told Nev the full plan yet,' Harry said, leaning in closer to the table. Draco nodded and leaned in closer too.

'You know how I've got the house at Grimmauld Place?' Harry asked and Draco nodded once more, Harry continued, 'they want to redevelop that part of London which means the tenants in 1 to 20 Grimmauld Place have been evicted because the buildings are due for demolishment.'

'Won't that mean your house will be demolished?' Draco asked with a frown, but Harry shook his head, 'No, it's protected, nobody knows it's there so you can't demolish something that's hidden. You know how those sort of charms work, the house is in a different plane, or something.'

'Harry, this question was in our charms exam two days ago,' Draco said with vague amusement, Harry shrugged, 'then I vaguely got the answer right.'

'So what does your house have to do with Sadie and Theo's wedding present?' Draco asked, still slightly lost.

'Well, I'm going to give them number 11,' Harry said simply, and he ate his ice cream for a moment as Draco tried to figure this out.

'How are you going to do that if it's getting demolished?' Draco asked, as if this was an obvious question to ask about a stupid idea.

Harry rolled his eyes, 'I have an idea, but I'm not telling you what it is until it works,' he said on a note of finality.

'Can I at least pitch in with this house? I'll decorate it or something, then I don't have to try and think of something to get them,' Draco said and Harry chuckled, he thought that might have happened, 'you can go half with me on the price of the house, they're bloody expensive.'

'How much?' Draco asked curiously as he began to lick the ice cream off of the glass like a cat.

Harry watched his friend in amusement as he replied, '331,325 Galleons, 5 Sickles and 5 Knuts.'

Draco didn't seem fazed by the price, 'That's not too bad, My Mother just got Malfoy Manor valuated, she's been trying to sell it since the war, guess how much they valued it at.'

'I couldn't even guess what kind of money your family have tied up in assets Draco,' Harry said truthfully which amused the Slytherin for some reason, 'Well obviously she lost about a million because of the fact that it was a torture chamber and all, but it was valued at 1,004,016 Galleons, 1 Sickle and 9 Knuts.'

Harry whistled, almost 3 times the amount that the house he was contemplating for Sadie and Theo cost, 'So is she going to sell?'

'Yeah I reckon so,' Draco said, looking out of the window thoughtfully, 'it's only bringing her misery, and it's not like her and my Father will ever reconcile now.'

'What about you? Do you not want it?' Harry asked, and Draco shook his head immediately, 'Nah, I never did, I want somewhere new where I can start fresh. I'd never want to live in that house, especially not with Hermione after…' he trailed off but Harry understood.

'Well, if you want to do pitch in you can,' Harry said with a smile, 'but I do need to make sure my plan works.'

Draco narrowed his eyes at his friend, but Harry gave no more away, 'So you said earlier you'd tell me, when are you planning on proposing?'

'Why?' Harry asked, watching Draco suspiciously, 'when are _you _planning on proposing?'

'Graduation,' both boys said simultaneously.

'What?!' they both said very loudly at the same time.

'You slimy Slytherin git, that was my-'

'You specky bastard, that was my-'

'Idea!' they finished at the same time.

The two friends stared at each other with narrowed eyes for a moment and then Harry spoke, 'so, what do we do now?'

Draco sighed and thought about this for a moment, 'You could always propose at prom.'

'Or you could always propose at prom,' Harry suggested, getting a dirty look shot at him by Draco.

'I'm not backing down,' Harry said fiercely, 'I have it all planned out.'

'Yeah well so do I,' Draco said honestly, he groaned in annoyance, 'I was going to do it on-'

'-stage at the end of the graduation ceremony,' Harry finished, and Draco's eyes widened, Harry nodded, and 'yeah I was going to do the same.'

'That's kind of weird,' Draco said, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Harry simply shrugged, 'Great minds think too alike clearly, I don't know what we'll do now…'

'Why don't you both do it at the same time?' a familiar voice said and Harry frowned when Neville slid in next to him at the booth he was sitting at with Draco.

'What? Me and Potter? No way fatbottom.'

'Draco, I'm not fat,' Neville said with an exasperated, yet amused shake of his head.

'And seriously Nev, that's a bad idea,' Harry added, wondering why Neville had just happened to appear at the right time in the right place.

'Why is it a bad idea?' Neville asked, not waiting for an answer, 'Hermione and Daphne are friends, and you guys are friends.'

'Friends who tried to kill each other for 7 years,' Draco retorted and Harry sniggered, 'I know you hated me, but I didn't realise you were trying to kill me, and if you were you did a fucking bad job of it.'

'I wanted too sometimes,' Draco muttered making Neville laugh, 'See but that's my point it would be a perfect example of house unity. A Slytherin and Gryffindor proposing together to their girlfriends who are of the opposite house, but both Slytherin and Gryffindor too, do you know what I mean?'

'No.'

'I understand Neville,' Harry said with a smile as he shot an amused look at Draco, 'I think it would be kind of cool, sort of twin-like.'

'And I bet you could get McGonagall in on it, you could get her to call you all to the stage so everyone would see the proposal,' Neville added and Harry nodded, 'it's a good idea, I'll try and convince ferret.'

'Oi! I thought we agreed that there was a limit our friendship went too? It's not at the point where that's funny yet!' Draco said defensively and Harry coughed a word under his breath that sounded rather like 'Scottish'.

'Neville, why are you here?' Harry asked finally, and Neville grinned, he held up two ice creams, 'Hannah and I just had lunch, I snuck away to buy her an ice cream so I better head back.'

'Oh okay,' Harry said, he was still suspicious, Neville had turned up at exactly the right time, 'hey, I'll meet you at the Hogs Head in an hour or something, I need to discuss that thing with you.'

Neville winked, 'Got ya, see you there. Bye Harry, Bye ferret.'

'Shut up fatbottom!' Draco called after Neville as he walked away. Then he frowned and asked, 'Wait, what thing?'

Harry grinned in amusement, 'It's about Sadie and Theo's wedding present, I told you I'll figure it out, I'm gonna get Nev to help.'

'Why can't I help?' Draco asked suspiciously, he also looked offended.

'Because I want you to be impressed when we manage to pull it off on our own,' Harry said simply as he finished his ice cream.

Draco rolled his eyes, 'You're such a cryptic tosser sometimes,' he said as he paid for their ice creams, 'and you actually ordered the most expensive ice cream in here.'

'Hey, you're rich, you can afford it,' Harry teased as the two friends left the ice cream parlour.

_**TBC!**_

_**A/N: The prices of things convert roughly like this into muggle money if anyone is interested:**_

_**Hermione's ring: 600 Galleons is about £3000.**_

_**No. 11 Grimmauld Place: 331,325 Galleons is about £1,650,000.**_

_**Malfoy Manor: 1,004,016 Galleons is about £5,000,000. **_

_**I'm not sure how accurate the prices of houses are, but I figure that Grimmauld Place would cost a lot because its in London and I reckon Malfoy Manor must have about 20 bedrooms so that's gotta be worth a ton even though its a bit further away in Wiltshire. I have the website I used to convert so just send me a message if you'd like a link!**_

_**ALSO, the website I used for the signs for the tea readings was really good and accurate so I'm pretty sure I got them fairly right ,but if not I'm sorry! I also have the site for that if anybody wants it, so again just message me!**_

_**FINALLY, I can't stop writing this fic, I love it. I was going to write the graduation and leave it there, but now I think I might write the whole summer after Hogwarts ends, I actually can't stop writing, so are you guys happy to keep on reading? If you are I'll keep writing!  
><strong>_


	60. Never Tickle a Venomous Tentacula

**The 8th Year**

**Chapter 60 – Never Tickle a Venomous Tentacula**

Harry had to admit, as he sat in the Hogs Head with a glass of firewhiskey waiting for Neville, part of him was keeping this secret from Draco just to get on the smug gits nerves. Ever since they'd all become friends, the Slytherins never expected anything sneaky of the Gryffindor's, so Harry had a very Slytherin plan and he knew Neville would be able to help him out with it.

'Hey Harry,' Neville said, sitting down on the barstool next to his fellow Gryffindor, Harry jumped, he hadn't heard Neville come in.

Harry smiled at his friend, 'Hey Nev, firewhiskey?'

Neville nodded and Harry ordered another firewhiskey which Aberforth slid across the table to Neville, 'Thanks Abe,' both boys said in unison.

'So Neville, how come you just happened to be in the ice cream parlor at the right time to give Draco and I your idea today?' Harry asked, narrowing his eyes at his friend.

Neville gave Harry a boyish grin that he knew well, it reminded him slightly of Ron, 'I just happened to go in to buy ice cream for me and Hannah, and saw you and Draco.'

'And you just happened to overhear our conversation?' Harry asked in amusement, not at all convinced by Neville's story.

'I have good hearing,' Neville said simply, still grinning.

Harry shook his head in amusement but left it there, for now, 'Anyway, I need your help with Sadie and Theo's wedding present.'

'You told me that much last night,' Neville remarked as he sipped his drink, 'are you going to actually tell me what it is yet?'

Harry chuckled, 'I'm going to buy them number 11 Grimmauld Place,' he said with a smile.

'That's a nice idea,' Neville said, smiling too, 'Do you want me to chip in on the price?'

'Well, you can if you'd like,' Harry said, thinking about it, 'I mean Draco said he would, so that way it would be a present from all of us I guess.'

Neville nodded thoughtfully, 'What does Draco know?'

'Just that I'm trying to get the house, but there's more to it than that. Muggles want to demolish all of the houses in Grimmauld Place, they want to redevelop it and build over the area,' Harry explained to Neville who understood quicker than Draco.

'Your house will be alright though won't it? I mean it's not in the same plane as the muggle houses, it's that kind of charm, right?'

'Exactly,' Harry said, he smirked, 'you got that faster than Draco.'

Neville smirked as well, 'I'm a pureblood too, he forgets that, I just took longer to flourish,' he said with a chuckle.

Harry laughed at this, 'Well your right about the house, it won't be demolished, but the other houses around it will and I want to try and save Number 10, 11, 13 and 14.'

'Why?' Neville asked, thinking about it for a moment.

'Well, I'm planning on giving them out as wedding presents. You got a problem with the number 13?' Harry asked, smiling at Neville who was now grinning broadly, 'you want me to be your next door neighbor?'

'Of course,' Harry said, as if this were obvious, 'you think I want Draco living next door? Having Theo on one side will be bad enough.'

Neville chuckled and drank some more firewhiskey, 'So, you need a plan to try and stop those houses from being knocked down, but just those 4, 5 included your house?'

Harry nodded and Neville appeared thoughtful for a moment, 'Well, I have one idea but it could be considered as slightly morally wrong.'

Harry got a slightly evil grin, 'Do explain…'

Neville chuckled, 'I can only think of one thing that stops Muggles from building on sites, and that's the fear of ghosts.'

'What are you thinking?' Harry asked, liking Neville's train of thought.

'We could rope in some of the school ghosts, get them to haunt the buildings and the land so that the Muggles don't build on it,' Neville suggested, and Harry pondered the idea.

'It might work, but I don't think its extreme enough…'

'How good are you with glamour charms?' Neville asked out of the blue.

Harry frowned, 'What, like the make-up kind or the forensics kind?'

'The forensics kind,' Neville replied, and Harry answered, 'uhh, I'm okay, I mean I can do a passable job.'

'In that case, I have a plan,' Neville said, he grinned at his friend.

'Excellent.'

* * *

><p>The following week was their second week of exams, and it was when some of the bigger ones happened, so Harry wasn't surprised when Hermione's calm bubble burst. It had happened on Sunday night when Draco asked her how the studying was going, Hermione promptly burst into tears and exclaimed that she would fail everything.<p>

Sadie, Daphne and Susan had calmed her down, but it had taken about 3 hours. Hannah would usually help out in this situation but she was of a slight nervous disposition and was freaking out just as much as Hermione, Harry felt slightly sorry for Draco and Neville, but Daphne was extremely laid back which he loved.

On Monday Hermione, Daphne and Sadie were all equally nervous as they headed off for their Arithmancy exam. The boys saw them off and wished them good luck, then frantically studied for the Transfiguration and Herbology exams which were the same week. When they returned 3 hours later they were all in high spirits.

'Can you believe that actually happened?' Daphne was asking Sadie, Hermione and Melody as they all climbed through the portrait hole together.

Hermione shook her head in amusement, all of the girls were laughing, 'No, I mean not at N.E.W.T level, at O.W.L I might have expected it!'

Draco, Harry, Theo and Neville shared confused looks as the girls drew closer to them, Hannah had locked herself up in her dorm room trying to cram for her exams.

'What happened?' Harry asked as Daphne sat down next to him on the sofa.

'Zacharias Smith,' Hermione replied with a pointed look at her best friend, Harry grinned somewhat evilly, 'what did the stupid git do this time?'

Sadie was giggling and Melody smiled and said, 'He obviously hasn't paid much attention in class, so he drew up his number chart for the exam and forgot to hand it in to the examiner.'

Sadie felt slightly bad for giggling, but Zacharias was a pompous git who irritated her, 'He's lost about 40 marks because it doesn't count as part of the exam now!'

Harry whistled and Draco sniggered, muttering something about how it served him right.

'He's not a nice guy,' Neville admitted, 'but that is a bit of a shame.'

'Nah it's not,' Theo said with an evil grin, 'he should have handed it in, it's his own bloody fault.'

Harry grinned back at the Slytherin and nodded, 'It completely is, and let's face it he's a wanker.'

Laughter echoed around the common room, and for a moment nobody was stressed.

But then it was Tuesday and there was the Ancient Runes exam. Hermione, Draco, Daphne and Hannah were those in the group taking the exam and Harry definitely didn't envy Daphne and Draco that morning. Hermione and Hannah were both freaking out about every single aspect that could be in the exam, and they continued to do so all the way out of the great hall. Harry sniggered at this, and Neville sighed in relief, 'Is it bad that I'm glad she has an exam because I can't deal with her stress?'

'No,' Harry admitted with a chuckle, 'I couldn't stand to be around Hermione when we had our O.W.L's and she's my best friend.'

'You're lucky Daphne is so laid back,' Neville said, shaking his head in disbelief, 'this morning Hannah said she didn't know how to translate a basic rune, I've seen her essays, she can translate whole scripts.'

'Daphne was a bit worried about this one actually,' Harry said to Neville as they dug into breakfast, 'she doesn't freak out like Hermione but she's been quite quiet all morning.'

'I'm not looking forward to tomorrow,' Neville said darkly, 'I've never been great at Transfiguration.'

Harry laughed and said, 'McGonagall told me I was lucky I only needed a passing grade to get into Auror training, not an O.'

'Well, as long as we scrape through then we're fine,' Neville said with a grin, 'oh by the way, I've made the first move towards that thing, for you know.'

Harry nodded, Sadie and Theo were both sitting fairly nearby, 'Good, when do you think we'll see the first results?'

'Saturdays edition of the Prophet hopefully,' Neville said thoughtfully and Harry grinned, 'Perfect. Hey Nev, do you want to go practice some Transfiguration after breakfast?'

* * *

><p>'Hey,' Harry said brightly when Daphne made her way into the common room after her exam, 'How'd it go?'<p>

'Good,' Daphne said as she dropped down on his knee, 'I mean obviously it's my best subject because of the curse breaking course I want to get into.'

'Did Smith manage to finish the exam this time?' Theo asked, sniggering at his own joke.

Hermione and Draco smirked at each other and this time Neville grinned, 'What did he do?'

'He forgot how to do a certain very old type of manuscript,' Draco said, trying to conceal a large grin, 'and it was a pretty important question.'

'So, Ernie tried to give him a hint by pointing at an owl outside of the window,' Hermione said, and by now Daphne was laughing next to Harry.

'And he thought that meant the script was written in lines, like an owls feet,' Daphne said, rolling her eyes as if this was ridiculous.

'When really what he was saying was that the translation of the question was O. W. L, the manuscript was easy, it was just slightly curved modern letters,' Hermione finished and Draco shook his head in disbelief, 'I can't believe that guy thinks he's smarter than everyone else.'

'He was probably just stressed guys, cut him a break, Hannah said, sticking up for her fellow Hufflepuff.

'Aw come on Han,' Neville said from next to his girlfriend, 'I know you can't stand him.'

'He's not that bad,' Hannah said, but it was clear she didn't believe it.

'Yeah right,' Harry said with a smirk, 'I remember you taking him out in the DA, you can't throw a stupefy spell like that at a friend.'

'Unless you are Draco, Harry or Theo of course,' Neville added in amusement, 'who have emotionally charged fights with lots of sexual tension, shouting and stunning charms.'

'Whatever,' Draco, Theo and Harry all drawled at the same time. Daphne grinned at her boyfriend and how Slytherin he had become.

* * *

><p>'I'm going to fail this exam.'<p>

Neville was pacing slightly as he stood in the entrance hall with pretty much everyone else in 8th year. This morning was the Transfiguration exam, and while most of the gang felt okay about it, Neville and Harry were rather nervous.

'No you aren't,' Harry assured his friend, 'you did fine when we practiced yesterday, just pretend the examiner is me.'

'Deep breaths Nev,' Hannah said from next to her boyfriend, she was nervous too but this was a good subject for her.

The doors to the hall opened and everybody filtered in, they were split up to each be examined on their practical skills before the written exam. Harry was nervous about this part, but he managed to transfigure a goblet into a dinner plate, and then he mostly managed to transfigure a squirrel into a mouse, but it still had a slightly furry tail which he was pretty sure he lost points on. From the corner of his eye Harry saw Neville do well up until he transfigured his squirrel into a bird, which the examiner was impressed with, until the bird decided to do its business on his head. Harry just hoped Neville wouldn't lose marks for it.

By the time the practical and written exams were both over everybody wanted a break, and they were all starving as they met up in the entrance hall.

'How did it go?' Harry asked Neville because they ended up being the first ones out of the hall.

'Alright,' Neville admitted, looking fairly confident, 'until the bird decided to crap on the examiners head.'

'Did he deduct points?' Harry asked, vaguely amused, but Neville shook his head and chuckled, 'Nah, thank Merlin, I reckon I might have scraped a pass.'

'Me too,' Harry said with a chuckle, 'but that's good enough for Auror training.'

'Exactly,' Neville grinned.

* * *

><p>Thankfully there was a gap between the Transfiguration and Herbology exams which almost everyone spent silent in the common room all day cramming. Until Theo broke the silence and the tension by starting a fight with a piece of scrunched up paper which escalated quickly.<p>

Come Friday morning the mood was different, most of the gang didn't need a high grade in Herbology so they weren't freaking out as much as they had been for other exams. Neville, Hannah and Susan were the least worried, it was like being a Hufflepuff (or Neville) automatically made you good at Herbology. The exam had two parts, written and practical, and after 2 hours doing the written side everybody was glad to be doing some practical work in the greenhouse, but it didn't go entirely smoothly…

'Can you believe he ended up in the hospital wing?' Harry asked through his laughter as he made his way back from the Herbology exam with Draco and Neville, the girls were walking slightly behind them.

'He's such an idiot,' Draco said, almost lovingly.

'It was pretty funny,' Neville said, still chuckling.

'And very Theo,' Harry pointed out, Draco nodded his agreement, 'definitely very Theo.'

'Do you think we should go visit him in the hospital wing?' Neville asked, still amused at what had happened.

'No, he doesn't deserve visitors,' Draco said as he rolled his eyes, 'the stupid tosser shouldn't have tried to tickle the venomous tentacula.'

Harry sniggered, 'Do you think Madam Pomfrey will be able to reattach his pinky?'

'I hope she can't,' Draco said and Neville laughed loudly, 'so we can take the piss out of him for it for the rest of his life.'

'We should probably go check on him,' Draco said sheepishly as the group reached the first floor. Harry smirked, 'I thought you said it was his own fault?'

'It was, he's an idiot, but we should probably still go see how he is,' Draco admitted reluctantly.

'Come on then,' Neville said turning into the hospital wing, 'go see your boyfriend Draco.'

Draco glared at the Gryffindor, 'Shut up fatbottom.'

'Go give him a kiss ferret,' Neville teased and Draco glared some more, but he did make his way over to Theo's bed. Harry and Neville followed, both smirking.

'Hey Theo, hows the finger?' Neville asked with a grin.

Theo rolled his eyes and held up his bandaged hand, 'attached.'

'Well done on the intelligence you portrayed today,' Harry said sarcastically and Draco grinned, 'yeah Theo, bet you've aced the Herbology exam.'

'You can't take the mick Draco,' Neville said with a smirk, 'you were practically in tears when it happened.'

'Even Sadie didn't freak out that much,' Theo said with an amused smile.

'Worried about his poor lover boy,' Harry teased and Draco rolled his eyes and muttered that he wasn't worried.

After that the girls arrived and a worried Sadie ran over, so the teasing stopped, for now.

* * *

><p>The weekend wasn't really one for relaxing, it was more a time of study, but everyone had managed to have a small break by having a mid-way through exams party on Friday night. Theo had been absent of course due to his being stuck in the hospital wing while his finger re-attached itself.<p>

When everyone gathered together for breakfast on Saturday morning Harry and Neville shot each other a grin. They tucked into toast as normal and waited for the post to arrive, which it did only moments later.

Only Hermione subscribed to the weekend edition of the Prophet, so when the post came it dropped the prophet in front of her, and as usual she eagerly opened it up. Harry knew the article wasn't on the front page, so he didn't expect Hermione to pick up on the plan straight away, but he also didn't expect her to burst out laughing the moment she saw the front page.

'What is it?' Draco asked in amusement from her right and then he glanced at the paper and his eyes widened.

'What are you laughing at?' Harry asked from Hermione's left and then he too glanced over at the prophet.

The front page was dominated by a large picture of Draco and Harry sitting on opposite sides of a table in the ice cream parlor. The picture had been snapped just as they had leaned closer to each other to discuss the plans for Sadie and Theo's wedding present, it was conveniently snapped at the right time to make it look like the two friends were about to kiss.

'_The Hero and the Rogue: Potter and Black, more than just an ice cream?' _the headline read.

Hermione grinned, she had just scanned the article, 'this is brilliant.'

'No it's not,' Harry and Draco echoed which only made Hermione giggle.

'Read it out loud Mione,' Daphne said with a chuckle as she tried to crane her neck to see the article.

Hermione grinned broadly and did just that.

'_Mr. Potter, the hero of the war, and his new friend, Draco Black (formerly Malfoy), were spotted in an intimate pose last weekend while sharing an ice cream in Diagon Alley. Questions have been raised since the start of this friendship as to whether it is something more, despite the fact that both Mr. Potter and Mr. Black are in serious relationships. This picture brings the issue to the fore once more, so what exactly is going on between the two young men? We spoke to their shared close friends Neville Longbottom, and Theodore Nott to find out._

'_Harry and Draco have always identified with each other in some way,' Mr. Longbottom told me, 'even when they hated each other they were sort of longing to be friends but without realizing it. They are both very much in love with their respective girlfriends, but there has always been sexual tension between those two since we were all about 14 years old.'_

_When I asked if they had ever acted on this 'tension' Mr. Longbottom replied, 'Who knows, probably, it wouldn't surprise me, what with society being much more relaxed about these things now.' _

_Mr. Nott had a slightly different view on the 'friendship' between Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, 'I've known Draco since he was tiny,' Mr. Nott confided in me, 'and I can tell you he was mad when Harry didn't want to be his friend in 1__st__ year, what with being a mighty Gryffindor and all. Ever since then Draco's been after him, he has a thing for forbidden fruit you know? Like this one time him and a teacher…well, I won't say anymore. Anyway, Draco and Harry are pretty much a thing, yeah their girlfriends both know about it, they don't mind.'_

_Mr. Nott shared his friend's view that the two young men had probably acted on the tension that was mentioned earlier in the article. Mr. Longbottom assured me to not listen to anything Mr. Nott told me due to his tendency to talk nonsense, but could this all just be part of the cover up?_

_Watch this space.'_

The table had erupted in laughter as Hermione read the article, Harry and Draco shared a glance and then...

'Long-'

'Fat-'

'-bottom!' Harry and Draco finished, both glaring at their friend who grinned.

'That's why you just happened to be in the right place at the right time,' Harry said with narrowed eyes.

Neville shrugged, smirking at his friends, 'Well Hannah wanted new beaters gloves and I couldn't be bothered going to the bank, so I just sold the story to the prophet.'

'I'm impressed,' Theo said with a grin at the Gryffindor, 'very Slytherin of you, I have taught you well young one.'

'Theo, why do you know so many quotes from muggle films?' Hermione asked in amusement.'

'Muggle Studies exam,' Theo said casually, 'film section.'

'What other ones do you know?' Hermione asked with a chuckle, 'I'll test you.'

'Alright,' Theo said with a grin, 'I have to match them to the films, so say a quote and I'll tell you the film.'

'Life is like a box of chocolates you never know what you're gonna get,' Hermione said.

Theo thought about this for a minute, 'Oh yeah, It's from Scarface!'

'Seriously?' Harry asked as he burst out laughing, 'you do know what Scarface is about right?'

'No,' Theo said with a frown, 'okay give me another one.'

'How about…' Harry said thoughtfully, trying to think of films Dudley and the Dursleys had watched, 'I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.'

'Uh, is that from Titanic?' Theo asked, looking unsure of himself.

'No Theo, slight difference,' Hermione said in amusement, 'Titanic is about a boat sinking and the quote is from the Wizard of Oz which is a happy musical.'

'Whatever, next one,' Theo said, brushing off the fact he wasn't doing so well.

'E.T phone home,' Hermione said, clearly thinking that this was obvious.

'Oh! I know this one!' Theo said enthusiastically, 'it's from Alien!'

'No Theo,' Hermione managed to say through her laughter, 'it's from the film E.T.'

'You're so screwed for your Muggle Studies exam mate,' Draco said as he shook his head in amusement at his best friend.

'I should probably start revising since its next week,' Theo said thoughtfully.

Hermione shook her head in amusement and got back to the Prophet, Harry and Neville shared a smirk and pretended to keep eating for the next 5 minutes until…

'Oh my gosh!'

'What is it?' Daphne asked, she had jumped when Hermione had exclaimed loudly.

'There's an article in here you should all listen too,' Hermione said and everyone moved in closer, nobody noticing the smirks on Harry and Neville's faces.

'_Unearthing History shrouded in mystery,' _Hermione read the headline, _'unearthed mid-week were human bones, along with wizarding artefacts at a housing estate in London. The houses in the street known as 'Grimmauld Place' were due for demolishment, but after the demolishment of the first house a Muggle archaeological team was brought in. The results of their excavation were astounding, a mass grave dating to an age Muggles call 'pre-history' has been found, and it is believed to be a one in a kind site. The head archaeologist, a Professor from a Northerly Scottish University, James Clark, has stated that the site is no longer fit for re-development. The demolishment of the other houses has been cancelled, and the site is believed to be designated world heritage site status. Amongst the muggle skeletons and artefacts were wizarding artefacts, it is unknown how these came to be in the possession of the Muggles. Amongst these artefacts were a timeturner which Muggles believe to be an ancient time-telling device and a quill which is believed by the Muggles to be a sacred feather.'_

'That's handy,' Harry said thoughtfully, 'I didn't really want my house to be demolished.'

Draco was smirking, he caught Harry's eye and nodded, as if to say that he understood.

'What in the hell is an archaeologist?' Draco asked as an afterthought.

'Oh wait I know this one! It's a Muggle person who makes buildings,' Theo pitched in.

'Theo, that's an architect,' Hannah pointed out, vaguely amused.

'Well it's the other one then, a Muggle who studies monkey bones.'

'That's an anthropologist,' Hermione said with an amused smile, 'and they study prehistoric human bones to learn about evolution, but its close enough. An archaeologist is someone who digs up the past, human bones and relics and artefacts, and even old houses.'

'What's the point in that?' Sadie asked with a frown, 'things get buried for a reason.'

'Yeah, I agree with Sadie, what's the point? What do they do with the things they dig up?' Daphne asked, she was frowning too.

Hermione had forgotten that in many ways purebloods still didn't understand Muggles, 'well they don't have great sources to learn about the past like wizards, they don't have many tapestry family trees or written historic documents, so they dig up the past to learn more about the people before them.'

'Why do they need to learn about that though?' Susan asked, she didn't quite get it either.

'They think it helps them to understand how the world works and how society works, and it's also important to them to learn from the mistakes that humans made in the past,' Hermione explained, she didn't see why the Slytherins couldn't understand.

'You didn't say earlier Mione, what do they do with the stuff they dig up?' Daphne asked again, she was frowning deeply as she tried to understand this.

'In a mausoleum,' Theo answered, thinking he'd remembered something from Muggle Studies.

'I don't know much about archaeology Theo but I'm pretty sure that's wrong,' Harry said in amusement as he drank his coffee.

'Yeah, a mausoleum is where dead people are buried, it's like a house for the dead,' Hannah said, of course she knew these things too because she was a half-blood.

'You're thinking of a museum,' Hermione said, 'they put the skeletons and artefacts in a museum so that people can go and see all of the artefacts.'

'People go and look at dead people and random bits and pieces that came out the ground?' Daphne asked in disbelief.

'That's really disrespectful!' Sadie said, looking affronted, 'the dead should be left at peace and so should their belongings!'

'It isn't really right,' Draco agreed, 'that people make money out of digging dead people up.'

'Ah well you know Muggles, they'll do anything for cash,' Theo said and Hermione and Hannah shared slightly offended glances.

'Anyway,' Neville said, bringing the issue back to Harry, 'in this case it's quite good, otherwise Harry would be homeless after school ends.'

'You didn't even say anything,' Hermione said, shaking her head at her friend, 'you might have a bunch of tourists on your doorstep from now on though.'

'Ah well,' Harry said thoughtfully, 'at least I'll have a house.'

'Didn't you say they evicted the tenants in the houses though?' Draco asked, 'will they get to move back in now?'

'Yeah, I think so,' Harry said thoughtfully, 'but I heard some big landowner bought a few of the houses before the tenants could move back into them, he's planning to do them up and sell them off I think.'

Draco nodded and smirked, the conversation continued on the subject of how it was good Harrys house would be okay, and as this was discussed Draco pulled out a piece of parchment and scribbled a note on it then signed it and folded it. He walked over to Harry and handed it to him, 'I heard Nev was going to pitch in too, so that's my bit.'

Harry nodded and unfolded the parchment, it was a cheque for a third of the price of Sadie and Theo's new house.

* * *

><p>'It worked then,' Harry said quietly as he dropped down next to Neville on the sofa by the fire in the common room.<p>

Neville nodded rather proudly, 'they aren't going to build, well done on the glamour charm, even the head archaeologist was convinced that the skeleton was real.'

Harry grinned, his charms had gotten better, in fact he had discovered he was much better in his classes when he didn't constantly have a dark lord breathing down his neck, what a surprise that was.

'When are we going to apply phase 2?' Harry asked thoughtfully.

'We could do it after graduation,' Neville said, pondering the idea himself.

'Sure,' Harry said with a smile, 'well done for coming up with this, it was pretty genius.'

Neville shrugged nonchalantly, 'My Dads weird, he's a pureblood whose really interested in Muggle stuff, him and Ron's Dad once spent a summer doing some archaeology in Egypt, they met up there on holiday and stayed there for 2 months,' he chuckled, 'so I read his diaries about it growing up, I just thought it might work.'

'Well it did, perfectly,' Harry said leaning back against the sofa, 'are you revising for DADA?'

'Nah,' Neville said casually, 'pretty sure I've got it under control.'

'I reckon I should automatically get an O,' Harry said smugly, 'I mean surely killing a dark lord is proof enough?'

Neville laughed at this too, 'Yeah, but you have to prove that you can do the theory,' he said and Harry rolled his eyes, 'that's the part I hate.'

'You might hate it but your good at it,' Neville said, 'I saw your mock exam result, 98 out of 100, that's better than Hermione.'

'It's the only class I'm better than Hermione in,' Harry said with a smirk, 'and she hates it.'

'Is that why you bring it up so much?' Neville asked with a chuckle.

'Yup,' Harry replied with a slightly evil grin.

* * *

><p>The rest of the weekend was spent studying, mostly for DADA as the only other exams in the final week were Care of Magical Creatures, History of Magic and Muggle Studies, which only a handful of 8th years took.<p>

On Monday the Care of Magical Creatures exam took place and something strange happened, nobody knew what had happened in the exam. Charlie had sworn everyone present to secrecy, but it had ended with Charlie in hospital with burns to his arms, a dead chicken and the creation of a new species of flobberworm by Luna.

On Tuesday it was the History of Magic exam, none of the gang took this class, only a small minority of mostly Ravenclaws did, but Zacharias Smith was once again the talk of the exam after he lost it with stress and started to scream at the examiner. According to Ernie and Justin he had to be dragged from the wing and knocked out because he was kicking and screaming so much. He was now locked up in confinement in the hospital wing.

'I wonder if he'll end up in Lockhart's old cell,' Theo sniggered as they sat in the common room that evening discussing the Hufflepuffs breakdown.

Unfortunately Melody happened to be walking by just as Theo insulted her boyfriend and that was how 20 minutes later Theo ended up in the hospital wing with Zacharias with a pretty bad bat-bogey hex on him.

Apparently Melody had found a friend in Ginny. Suffice to say, the others would never let Theo live this one down, combined with the venomous tentacula incident Theo was definitely leaving his impression on the school. No doubt he wanted to be remembered years after he'd left, just like the Marauders.

There was a break on Wednesday which most of the gang used to practice duelling in the Room of Requirement, they were just honing their already adequate skills for the exam on Friday. Hermione ended up being left to duel Harry after Draco had been knocked out of the final 3.

As Harry got ready to duel Hermione he let his thoughts wander slightly. He was extremely proud of Hermione and how far she had come, she still couldn't beat Harry in DADA but she was so much better at the practical side of it than she had been when they had first become friends. Harry and Hermione bowed to each other and walked to their respective ends of the platform, and the duel began.

It was fast paced and Harry relied on a good, quick shield charm. Hermione cottoned on to this and started firing unblockable spells which made Harry run and jump around the platform, she was trying to get him out of breath.

Harry wasn't just good though, he was fit, playing Quidditch and being on the run had ensured that, he didn't run out of breath easily. Hermione kept this tactic up and Harry continued with his tactic of trying to distract her and catch her out by firing at her when she was in mid-spell, but he didn't get her.

In the end Hermione got to him first, her tactic worked, but not by getting Harry out of breath, no. Harry jumped to avoid Hermione's stunning charm and when his feet should have touched the ground they didn't because he had jumped slightly too far back and he fell off the platform and knocked himself out.

'Ennervate!'

'_**Do you think he's okay?'**_

'_**He's got a pretty big lump on his head.'**_

'_**He's got a hard head, he'll be fine.'**_

'_**Hard head? Uh huh.'**_

'_**Shut up Theo.'**_

'_**He managed to survive Voldemort about 10 times, I reckon he can survive a little fall.'**_

'_**He looks like he's waking up.'**_

Harry opened his eyes and blinked a few times until the world came into focus. He was lying on his back on the hard wooden floor in the Room of Requirement and Daphne, Draco, Hermione, Theo, Sadie, Neville, Hannah, Susan and Lavender were all standing above him, looking down on him with concern.

'Are you okay?' Daphne asked as she cocked her head at her boyfriend.

'My head hurts,' Harry said, wincing as he touched a snitch sized lump on his head.

'Next time try walking off the platform,' Daphne teased and Hermione bit her lip as she dropped onto her knee next to him, 'I'm sorry Harry, I didn't mean for you to fall off, I was just trying to-'

'You were trying to win the duel,' Harry finished for her, he smiled at her, 'and you did, well done.'

Hermione gave him a weak smile and helped him up, but he was very shaky on his feet, 'we're taking you to the hospital wing,' Hermione ordered.

Neville picked Harry up easily and threw him over his shoulder which was no easy feat. Ever since the war Harry hadn't been so much of a skinny runt, he had gotten more muscle and was heavier. All the same Neville made it look easy and Harry rolled his eyes as he was carried to the hospital wing and shouted at by Madam Pomfrey for being there so soon after he'd been discharged the last time.

Harry had let her fuss over him and watched his friends sniggering in the corner of the room, 10 minutes and one bandage later she let them over to his bed.

Harry got to his feet gingerly and accepted Draco's arm because although his head was bandaged up he still felt slightly dizzy. Madam Pomfrey had given him some potion to help with that, but she said he had a concussion so he might feel a little weird for the next few hours.

'Aw,' Daphne said, from where she was walking behind Harry and Draco with Theo, 'Look at them, arm in arm.'

Theo winked at his friends and Neville snapped a picture.

* * *

><p>'Harry!'<p>

Harry was lying on the sofa in the common room with his feet up, he'd been told to relax by Madam Pomfrey, she had assured him that if he did this he would be okay for the DADA exam on Friday.

'Yeah?' Harry said casually as Theo rushed over to him and sat down in an armchair, 'everyone else is asleep. Can you help me revise for Muggle Studies?'

'So you do actually revise?' Harry asked in amusement as Theo handed him a list.

'Sometimes,' Theo said, he laughed, 'just ask the questions on the list.'

'Alright,' Harry said, looking down at the list of 6 questions, 'Number 1: What is the purpose of a microwave oven?'

'Oh, I know it, it's a box to watch theatre on. It's people acting but it's all in a little box, and Muggles use it for entertainment,' Theo said, looking quite proud of himself.

'Good answer, but not for that question,' Harry said with a vague smile, 'that's a television that you're thinking of.'

'Oh, okay, what is a microwave oven then?'

'It's a box that you put food in and it cooks it. It runs off of electricity,' Harry explained, he looked back down at the paper, 'Number 2: What is a monarch?'

Theo thought about this one for a few seconds and then answered, 'A monarch…oh yeah, it's what Muggles call convicts.'

'No Theo,' Harry said chuckling at how clueless the Slytherin was, 'it's a King or Queen who rules a country.'

'Right,' Theo said, clearly trying to make that stick in his head.

'Number 3: What must a batsman protect in the game of cricket?' Harry asked, he knew cricket fairly well, Uncle Vernon had liked to watch it on the television in the summer, but he doubted that Theo would know the answer given his answers to the last questions.

'Uh, himself, his face…his penis!'

Harry laughed loudly at this and it made his head throb slightly, 'He protects the wickets so they don't get hit with the ball, that's how the game is played.'

'Wickets, right,' Theo said, and Harry wondered how on earth he would pass this exam.

'Number 4: In Muggle science, water is made of two chemicals, one of them is hydrogen. What is the other?'

Theo frowned deeply as he thought hard on this, 'I remember this one…it has the same name as a character from that Muggle book we studied…Lord of the Rings…what was the guy with the thing called…he became king or something…Aragon!'

'You're thinking of Argon Theo,' Harry said in amusement, 'and that's not the answer its oxygen. Number 5: What is the name of the character who becomes King at the end of the Muggle book series 'The Lord of the Rings'?'

'Aragon!' Theo said happily, and Harry laughed at his friend, 'Correct. Finally, Number 6: Who is the current Muggle Prime Minister?'

'Oh, I know this one. It's the woman one, the one all the Scottish people hate because she blew up mimes or something. I always found that weird, I mean mimes are annoying but blowing them up is quite extreme, and don't mimes come from Italy? So why do the Scottish people hate her?' Theo had gone off into a complete tangent but brought himself back to the point while Harry stifled his laughter, 'Margaret Fletcher.'

'Her name is Margaret Thatcher,' Harry said in amusement, 'she upset miners, not mimes and the Scottish people ran a lot of mines that's why they didn't like her. Also, she isn't the prime minister at the moment, Tony Blair is.'

'Aw bugger,' Theo said, 'I'm going to fail this exam.'

'I thought you wanted to fail this exam,' Harry said, shaking his head in amusement at Theo.

'I do,' Theo said with a grin, 'I just wanted to check that I could.'

* * *

><p>When Theo climbed through the portrait hole after his Muggle Studies exam his friends were waiting with amused smiles at the seats by the fire, so he joined them and sat down next to his fiancé.<p>

'How did it go?' Sadie asked, expecting the inevitable answer.

'I nearly got disqualified because of my answers,' Theo said, sounding almost proud of this fact.

'How can you get disqualified from a Muggle Studies exam?' Harry asked in amused disbelief.

'Apparently my answers were offensive to Muggles,' Theo said with a shrug.

'What were the questions?' Hermione asked, amused about and dreading the answer that would likely come.

'Well one was about Muggle children and I answered with, 'this question is irrelevant because Muggles don't breed.'

Hermione rolled her eyes, not annoyed, but almost lovingly at their idiotic friend, 'Yes, I can see why that might be offensive.'

'The other one was, 'what is the parentage of a Muggle-born?' so I-'

'Theo, how can you write an offensive answer to that question?' Neville asked as he laughed at his friend.

'Oh I'm sure he found a way,' Draco said with an amused smile.

'Well I wrote 'scum' as my answer,' Theo said which initiated much chuckling and eye-rolling.

'Oh Theo,' Sadie said, lovingly, yet showcasing how much of a complete tosser the Slytherin could be, but they all loved him regardless.

* * *

><p>It was breakfast on Friday, the day of the DADA exam.<p>

Hermione was freaking out.

'I'm going to fail this exam, I got an E in my O.W.L, it's my weakest subject!' Hermione was saying, she was panicking as usual. Draco was so glad that this was the last bloody exam.

'Hermione, chill,' Daphne said shaking her head in disbelief at her friend.

'Hermione! You knocked me out with petrificus totalus in 1st year, it's a 3rd year level spell!' Neville exclaimed in amusement.

'You worked out how to protect yourself from death by Basilisk, I'd say that's pretty impressive,' Susan added.

'You helped me train for the Triwizard Tournament, when we were about 2 years too young to be able to know any of that magic,' Harry chipped in, 'I'd say that's an achievement.'

'You practically invented the DA in 5th year, what kind of 5th year can come up with a rebellion like that without a good grounding in DADA?' Hannah said, smiling at her friend.

'Then you fought in the department of mysteries against death eaters without major injury or death,' Harry said, giving Hermione a look that said 'stop putting yourself down'.

'Then you fought death eaters _again _in the Battle of the Lightning Struck Tower,' Neville said, they were all bigging Hermione up, but she deserved it.

'You were Undesirable No.2 in the biggest war our world has seen, what does that say about your magical skill?' Draco asked, although the question was rhetorical.

'Your quick thinking is the only reason I'm here today Hermione, without you while on the run I would have died for sure,' Harry finished, squeezing Hermione's hand, 'that's proof enough that you will pass this exam with flying colours.'

'Any examiner that fails one of the golden trio in a DADA exam will get hung, drawn and quartered by the general wizarding public,' Neville added and Harry chuckled, 'or Kingsley.'

Hermione smiled around at her friends, 'Thanks guys,' she said, and feeling slightly calmer they headed to the classroom on the 1st floor where the written exam would be.

They had a 10 minute break when it was over before the practical exam, but like Divination, this was done individually so they could talk in the waiting area. They chatted and agreed they had all done the best they could on every question, apart from Theo who had gotten at least one wrong by getting a werewolf mixed up with an ewok.

'What do you think the practical will be like?' Draco asked the others as they all stood in a waiting area. Hannah was in the large room, she was first because they were being called in alphabetically.

'I don't know,' Hermione said, 'but I suspect Hannah will go out another door so she can't warn us what to expect.'

'I don't suppose it would do any good now anyway,' Harry said thoughtfully, 'I reckon there will be something to do with Dementors, Inferi and a mock duel, but I'm not sure what else.'

They stood together chatting meaninglessly for a while, and the group slowly got smaller as Susan was called in and strutted confidently towards the door, well she did want to become an Auror. Then it was Draco's turn, and after that it was Lavenders. So far most people were in the room for about 10 minutes, give or take. Sadie left the group next and after that Hermione departed and had the shortest time yet in the room. Harry hated how far along in the alphabet he was sometimes as Daphne entered the room and was also faster than the average. He found himself feeling quite excited about this exam. Neville left shortly after, and he was only about 7 minutes, Theo and Harry stood and talked for a bit but then he was called in and again was somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes. Eventually…

'Potter, Harry!'

Harry grinned as he made his way towards the room and entered. It was just a large room with an examiner standing in the middle. There were a few 'props' and Harry could guess what they were all for. One was a cupboard, housing a boggart that would become a dementor. Boggarts were supposed to take on your worst fear of course, but they could be altered to shift into a specific thing and take on its characteristics. In the other corner of the room there was a tank of water with what looked like a real Inferius in it, but Harry knew that it wasn't real, it was just covered with glamour charms to give the impression it was the real thing. He really knew his stuff when it came to DADA. There was a 'shooting range' lining the back wall of the classroom, which Harry knew was to test the accuracy of their spell casting and in the centre of the room there was a long rectangle marked out in the floor which Harry assumed would rise when it was time for the mock duel. He had to admit, he was good.

'Ah, the famous Mr. Potter,' the examiner said with a smile, 'the fastest time set for this exam was 5 minutes and 15 seconds. Do you think you can beat that?'

Harry grinned, 'I can definitely try.'

'That's the kind of spirit I like to see,' the examiner said happily, 'for you I'm sure this is simple. Start here, defeat each challenge and then come to the centre of the room for the finale.'

Harry nodded, he had it, easy.

The examiner took out a stopwatch and said, 'your time starts…now.'

Harry walked towards the cupboard with his wand at the ready and a memory fresh in his head. The doors burst open and a 'dementor' flew out. Harry closed his eyes briefly and thought of the first night he and Daphne had spent together as a couple. All they had done was cuddle and laugh about stupid things, but it meant the world to Harry and as he shouted, 'EXPECTO PATRONUM!' and watched his stag take the fake dementor out with its antlers he knew it was probably the strongest patronus he'd ever conjured.

Harry smirked as he moved on to the Inferius, as soon as he approached it climbed out of the water and started to stumble aimlessly towards him, Harry casually cast the firestorm spell and drew the Inferius back, in seconds it fell to a heap in the ground, easy.

He moved on again to the aiming challenge at the wall at the back of the classroom, he wasn't sure if it was just judged on accuracy or whether strength and power mattered too so he took a few seconds to focus and then turned to the targets which were now moving. He hit all 6 in under a minute, and he was pretty sure he hit them all in the centre too.

Harry walked back to the centre of the room where the examiner looked extremely impressed. He raised the platform and Harry took to one end while the examiner took to the other. The man was short and plump which made Harry think he'd be an easy target, but looks could be deceiving. They walked to the centre and bowed to each other, the mark of respect and then took their places and the duel began.

Harry was glad he'd practiced with Hermione a few days before because like Hermione, this examiner duelled fast, that was his tactic, to try and throw off a pupil with his speed.

It didn't work on Harry as he dodged or shielded everything the examiner threw at him and in return through spells back at him, but the examiner was just as good at dodging and shielding as Harry was, and he moved fast for a man of his stature. Harry caught him out though, he hit him in the legs with a jinx and won the duel. After he undid the jinx the examiner stopped the timer and sunk the platform back into the ground.

The examiner whistled when he looked down at the stopwatch, '5 minutes and 2 seconds, an all-time record Mr. Potter.'

Harry grinned and shook the examiners hand, 'Who did I beat?' he asked.

The examiner smiled and replied, 'Albus Dumbledore.'

This took Harry aback, but in a good way, he thanked the examiner and left the room where the others were waiting in another hallway.

'Wow, that was fast!' Daphne said when she saw Harry come out.

Harry grinned broadly, 'I beat the record, I'm the fastest person ever to complete the N.E.W.T level DADA exam.'

'Well done Harry!' Hermione said eagerly, she hugged Harry and a few seconds later Daphne did the same thing. Neville said congratulations too but Draco and Theo just insulted Harry because they were massively jealous of his awesomeness.

Everybody else talked about how great they felt they had done in the exam, and Harry had to hide the tears that he felt welling up. He was proud, he felt like those good results were partly due to him especially in the case of those who had been in the DA.

It was the perfect end to the exams, and Harry found that he was no longer dreading leaving Hogwarts, he looked forward to what was next. He couldn't wait to begin Auror training.

_**TBC **_


	61. Let's Make it a Night to Remember

**The 8th Year**

**Chapter 61 – Let's Make it a Night to Remember**

There wasn't much of a break between the Defence against the Dark Arts exam and the prom, because the exam finished just before lunch and the prom began at 7pm that night. The girls were freaking out, as they did, about whether or not they would have enough time to get ready. They all had their dresses, as was Wizarding tradition they had been sent them by their Mothers. Susan and Sadie had already been given their dresses for their birthdays, and Hannah, Daphne and Lavender had received theirs in parcels that morning. Even Melody had been given her dress rather movingly in the great hall by Trelawney, as worried as they had been about the DADA exam everyone had still found it in them to 'aww' at this, and Harry was pretty sure that he'd caught Filch wiping his eyes on his handkerchief. In fact, everyone had a dress apart from Hermione but she seemed on top of this, she had smiled and said that she would just wear the dress she wore to the Yule Ball, but Harry had seen the sadness in her eyes. Being a Muggle-born her parents didn't know about such traditions, so Muggle-borns often had to buy their own prom dress.

'Are you okay?' Harry asked Hermione quietly as Sadie pulled Daphne away to start getting ready in their dorm room.

Hermione shrugged and said to her friend, 'I'm fine, I guess, I just feel left out.'

'That's the point,' Neville said with a sigh from where he was sitting nearby, 'I read somewhere that part of the reasons Muggle-borns were looking down upon was because they had to buy their own prom dresses which usually meant they looked scruffier than the others.'

'Gee, thanks Nev,' Hermione said, sounding miserable, 'I'm supposed to look the best, I mean I'm Head Girl.'

'Hermione,' Harry said, putting his arm around her, 'you could go out there in rags and still look beautiful.'

'Oi, back off Potter,' Draco said jokingly from where he had just arrived behind the armchair Hermione was sitting on, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, 'that's my girlfriend you're talking about.'

Harry and Hermione both chuckled and Draco said with a smile, 'Hey Mione, my Mother and one of her friends are outside, they want to talk to you.'

Hermione frowned and got to her feet, letting Draco take her hand and lead her out of the portrait hole. She didn't know what she was expecting, but she definitely wasn't expecting to see Narcissa Black and Molly Weasley.

After a moment of gaping and looking confused Narcissa smiled and said, 'Don't be alarmed Hermione, we're here to give you a gift.'

'We know your parents aren't Wizarding, and we didn't want you to have to wear an old thing to the prom,' Molly said with a smile, 'I remember having to wear my Mothers dress and I was bullied rotten for it.'

'You're Head Girl,' Narcissa said kindly, 'you should shine brighter than everyone else.'

'So we bought you a prom dress, it's from both of us,' Molly said, looking a little teary and unsure of herself, 'you've felt like a daughter to me and a sister to Ginny since you were 11 years old.'

'And I hope, from the way Draco talks about you, that you'll be a daughter to me one day,' Narcissa said, and she handed a box to Hermione who was actually completely speechless and baffled.

And she was crying, but she hadn't realised that until a salty tear fell into her mouth.

'Merlin,' Hermione eventually managed to say breathily, 'Thank you, thank you both so much. This means so much to me.'

'Don't say that, you haven't even seen the dress yet,' Narcissa joked with a light chuckle and Hermione laughed, a laugh of happiness and relief, 'I don't need too, I know it will be brilliant.'

All the same Hermione opened the box and saw before her a beautiful dress, it was folded of course and she didn't dare take it out here and get it dirty, but she could make out the colour and material. The dress was largely made of white lace with a silk underskirt to stop it being see-through, but the bust was made up of gold sequins, it was the perfect mix of subtle which Hermione liked, and glamorous which she didn't think she could pull off. It was clear that Molly and Narcissa had worked together to pick out this dress, which brought Hermione back to the confusion as to why they were here, together.

'Without being rude…' Hermione began with a frown, 'why are you both here? I didn't think you got on.'

'We didn't,' Molly said honestly, 'but things change, people change.'

'My Mother has been volunteering at the 'Dumbledore Ward' in St. Mungo's,' Draco explained and instantly Hermione understood. The ward had been opened after the war and was completely run by volunteers, it was a safe place for those damaged mentally or physically during the war.

'And I've been helping there too, it helps fill the empty days,' Molly explained, still getting a tear in her eye when she thought of Fred.

'Oddly enough we found some common ground,' Narcissa said and Hermione could see what Draco meant, she seemed like a whole new person, although Hermione had to admit she hadn't known Draco's Mother particularly well until recently.

'We won't keep you Hermione, I know you must be in a hurry to go and get ready for tonight,' Molly said, pulling Hermione in for a hug, 'have a great time.'

'Enjoy yourself,' Narcissa said drawing Hermione in for a very different hug. As opposed to Molly's warm, motherly hugs, this hug from Narcissa felt much more formal and elegant. She smelled like perfume, not cooking like Molly usually smelt like, it was a different experience.

Hermione was still in shock moments after both women had left and Draco had steered her back into the common room. Harry asked what had happened and Draco relayed the story to the equally shocked boy-who-lived.

* * *

><p>At 6.30pm the girls were finally ready, and the boys had been sitting playing exploding snap for an hour waiting on them. For once they didn't descend the staircase one at a time, instead they all came out and stood together in the common room, all looking as beautiful as each other. None of the boys had been allowed to see the girls dresses, another wizarding tradition, so they were all in awe when they saw their girlfriends (or fiancés) standing together by the stairs.<p>

'Wow,' Harry breathed as Daphne floated over to him. He'd seen her looking beautiful on many occasions, but this topped even the Yule Ball. Daphne had this knack of managing to look stunningly beautiful and elegant but yet do it in a skimpy or skintight outfit. Tonight, she was doing just that. Her dress was skintight, and floor length and a metallic gold that shone, but without being too bright. The dress was pulled in under the bust and was strapless on one shoulder, there was a slit in the side that started mid-thigh.

'Thanks,' Daphne said with a radiant smile, 'My Mother knows me well, right?'

'Definitely,' Harry said with a grin, the dress was very Daphne. Not that Harry thought she needed it, but Daphne had also carefully applied golden eye shadow and glitter eyeliner and mascara, she looked fantastic.

Draco's reaction to Hermione had been similar to this reaction, he had gaped at her for a moment and then made his way over to her.

'What do you think?' Hermione asked, she seemed slightly nervous and unsure of herself.

'I think it's perfect and it's you,' Draco said as he kissed his girlfriend. Hermione was wearing a floor length strapless dress that was almost entirely made of white lace. As Hermione had realised earlier when she had gotten the dress the bust was made of gold sequins and from there downwards the dress flowed almost magically.

'I wasn't sure,' Hermione said, but she smiled, 'I feel…different.'

'Well you look great,' Draco said, combined with the light makeup and the hairdo he was feeling sentimental, he smiled and told Hermione this, 'with your hair up in that style I can just see you 4 years ago, at the Yule Ball.'

Hermione's hair was almost exactly the same, pulled into a bun with some loose strands left down, she grinned, 'you remember that?'

'Hermione, I might not have showed it, but I was rather enamored with you. I remember virtually everything,' Draco said softly to which Hermione flung herself into his arms and kissed him.

While this passionate exchange was occurring Theo was seeing Sadie in her dress for the first time, and for once he was actually being serious.

'You look so beautiful,' Theo whispered. Sadie was wearing a pale green, floor length dress which had a silver shoulder strap and an elaborate silver jeweled bust. Sadie was often conservative in the way she dressed, but tonight she was letting her hair down a little as the dress had a cut mid-thigh and from there her leg was on show.

'Thank you,' Sadie said happily, 'I'm excited about tonight.'

'I'm more excited about getting back,' Theo said with a wink that made Sadie chuckle.

Neville had seen Hannah's dress, it was an accident, he'd seen it a little when she had opened the box, but all he knew was that it was blue, or green, he couldn't remember. So when he saw Hannah the sight still took his breath away. She was wearing a floor-length strapless dress, it was turquoise with a simple silk skirt, but the bust was elaborate. Under the bust was a slightly darker green ribbon which showed off Hannah's thin form, and above that the bust was decorated with green, blue and purple jewels. It was slightly more elaborate than Hannah was used too, she often just stuck to subtle and simple, but she looked fantastic and Neville told her as much.

'I couldn't find a more perfect fiancé if I tried,' Neville said as he pulled Hannah into his arms, kissed her on the forehead and held her tight.

'Thank you,' Hannah said smiling, 'it's a little more…out there than I'd usually go for, but you only go to prom once in your life.'

'Unless you become a teacher,' Neville said, 'in which case you go every year.'

Hannah chuckled and took Neville's hand, 'True.'

Lavender had been a little more conservative, her dress was a simple pale blue and hung on her quite a bit, of course some people knew why this was but only a set group. Lavender was now beginning to show in her pregnancy and she didn't want it to get out into the open while they were still at school, and as they wouldn't be for much longer, she was hoping to get away with it. Blaise had smiled and told her how lovely she looked and he had taken her hand and she seemed to brighten up, but it was clear that she was feeling self-conscious.

Susan was the only one riding this solo, and from what Daphne had talked to her about earlier she got the impression that things were changing between her and Percy. Susan had said that he'd asked to come to her graduation before she'd offered and that they had started going out together without hooking up. Daphne liked to talk to Susan about it because it was developing exactly the way her relationship with Harry had developed.

When everyone was ready the group headed down to the entrance hall where they were each handed a complimentary glass of champagne on their way into the great hall. Harry was surprised when he saw the hall, because it had been split down the middle by a large see-through glittery curtain. On one half was a dance floor, and on the other half (that closest to the door) was a dining room with 6 circular tables of 4 and a long head table for the teachers.

Everybody gathered by the door and waited for McGonagall to speak. As they did so they looked around the hall. It was decorated simply, but beautifully. The tables each had a white sparkly tablecloth on them, and there were white balloons floating magically above each table. There were also white banners with gold writing saying 'Class of 98/99' and 'The Eighth Year'.

'Welcome,' McGonagall said as she stood and smiled at them all, 'to the first ever '8th year' prom!'

There was laughter all around the hall.

'I feel a personal attachment to this year, more so than I have since the class of 1978,' McGonagall said, somewhat proudly. Harry grinned, 78, the year his Father and the rest of the Marauders had graduated, 'and I wish this year all of the best luck, but for now it is time to enjoy the last few days you have with each other, and with Hogwarts. So tonight, I beg you all, have a good time.'

There were cheers and McGonagall smiled, something she still did rarely, 'As you remember, you chose the seating arrangements before the exams, so please take your seats and enjoy the meal.'

McGonagall sat back down and chattering started as everyone headed to their seats. At 'Table 1' sat Harry, Daphne, Hermione and Draco, and next to them at 'Table 2' sat Theo, Sadie, Neville and Hannah. They were close enough to all hold a conversation with each other. Susan was sitting at 'Table 3' with Melody who she got on very well with, and Lavender and Blaise.

Before the food could even be served the attention was drawn to 'Table 4' where Megan, Ernie, Justin and Zacharias were sitting because Justin cast a silencing charm on Zacharias the moment he began to complain about their not being enough choice on the menu. McGonagall then thanked Justin and asked him to keep the charm in place until the end of the meal.

As they ate everyone talked about meaningless things like Quidditch, and the food, but they also talked about the more serious things in life. Like what would happen after Hogwarts, who would work where, who would live where, when so and so were getting married. It was all very sophisticated really.

There was only one person missing from the prom, well apart from Ron who Harry wished more than once was here. The other person missing however was Gabrielle who had been complaining all week about how much she couldn't wait to get out of Hogwarts because she hated it, and how much she wanted to go back to France. McGonagall had grown weary of it very quickly so had told her that as part of her punishment for what she did to Harry earlier in the year she couldn't go to prom.

Around 10 minutes after food Hermione and Theo got to their feet and disappeared behind the curtain. Not long after McGonagall drew the curtain back slightly and let everyone walk through into the other part of the room. Once through the curtain Harry realised that the décor was exactly the same, but there was a dance floor on this side and a stage at the front of the room with steps on the right and left leading up to it.

Hermione and Theo were standing on the stage, Hermione occasionally glancing anxiously at Theo. Harry and Draco still had no idea how he'd been chosen as Head Boy. It was time for the Head Boy and Girl speech, Harry knew that Hermione had been writing and practicing her speech for a month, but he was pretty sure Theo would just make it up as he went along.

'Hello everyone,' Hermione said with a smile once everyone was standing in front of the stage, 'first of all Theo and I would like to thank you all for coming tonight.'

'Yep,' Theo said, with his hands in the pockets of his dress robes, 'cheers.'

Theo, like all of the other boys was wearing simple black dress robes, some had a hem or sleeves in a different colour, but most were simple, next to Hermione in her beautiful dress he looked like he was dressed down for the occasion.

'I don't think a year of students has ever been as strong or united as we have,' Hermione said with a confident smile, 'I believe that war is horrendous, but in some ways it binds us. To those of you who fought together, you will not forget that. To those of you who were in Dumbledore's Army, the people you met there will be friends until the day that you die,' the look in Hermione's eyes was slightly haunted, but she kept her voice steady, 'our year have gone through hell and back together, we have faced so much, yet here we stand. The survivors, the fighters, and for that we are united. Even those who we may not have known, or liked, before we returned to 8th year, they have not only fitted in but they've flourished,' Hermione shot a smile at the Slytherins in the crowd, 'my boyfriend and some of the best friends anyone could hope for are Slytherins, and I don't care, because I don't see the house or the colours, I see the people beneath that. We should be proud, because we are strong, and we are united. Each house under the same roof, in the same tower, this year has been unique and we have thrived. So I would like to finish by saying, we are only as strong as we are united.'

Hermione's speech ended with cheers and whistles and shouts. Everyone agreed, it had been moving, it had actually moved some people to tears, McGonagall and Neville included…

Theo bowed to Hermione and took off an invisible top hat, 'Well,' he said, 'I really can't beat that beautiful speech Hermione,' he said, making Hermione grin, 'so instead…stage dive!'

Theo ran to the edge of the stage and jumped into the general direction of Harry, Draco and Neville who all stepped away, ready to let him fall flat on his face. However at the last moment seconds before he hit the floor Sadie caught her tosser of a boyfriend with Wingardium Leviosa and rolled her eyes at him, 'Theo! Will you ever grow up?'

'No!' Most people in the crowd shouted, making Sadie laugh and Theo jump to his feet and bow to them all.

Hermione made her way off of the stage, chuckling at her friend, she walked over to Draco who grinned and put his arm around her shoulders, 'that was amazing, you were amazing.'

Hermione grinned back and kissed her boyfriend and Susan made a face at them both, 'yuck, get a room,' she teased with a wink just as McGonagall made her way onto the stage.

'Thank you for that moving speech Miss. Granger, and that amusing fall Mr. Nott,' McGonagall said, a smirk tugging on the corner of her lips, 'now for a special part of the night. The achievement awards,' there was a cheer at this.

'Normally, as you probably know, there are only 4, but due to special circumstances this year there will be 5,' McGonagall explained and she picked up the first trophy from a small table on the stage and began.

'The first award is for sporting achievement and this year the staff were unanimous in their choice,' McGonagall said, and Draco whispered to Harry, 'it's me.'

'No it's not,' Hermione said, 'McGonagall wouldn't have voted for you, it's Harry.'

'It's so me mate,' Harry said with a wink.

'Harry Potter!'

Harry grinned and Draco glared at him, the Gryffindor jogged up onto the stage and accepted the award from McGonagall, he did a mock bow to her and then to the crowd and said, 'I'd like to thank the staff for this, because I can honestly say it's the greatest achievement of my life so far, apart from killing Voldemort obviously. I've wanted to win this as Captain since I joined the team in first year, so again, thank you!'

Harry walked off of the stage to cheers and whistles, and boo's and shouts of 'You suck Pothead!' from someone who sounded remarkably like Draco, what a coincidence.

McGonagall announced the next award, 'For extraordinary academic achievement this award can only go to, the brightest witch of her age…Hermione Granger!'

As Hermione walked to the stage, trying not to cry McGonagall looked proud, Hermione was sort of her prodigy after all, it was clear she saw herself in Hermione.

'Thank you Professor,' Hermione said to McGonagall as she accepted the trophy, she then turned to the crowd and the teachers and said, 'I'd like to thank all of the staff for this award. I spent a lot of time being put down and bullied for being smart, but I never let it dumb me down, I'm proud to be the way I am and I'm glad that people can see that without taking me for a pretentious know-it-all.'

Draco looked only a little guilty, he was sure Hermione's last remark was aimed at him, but all the same she smiled and hugged him and let him congratulate and kiss her, so maybe it hadn't been a jibe.

'The next award is being split between two people,' McGonagall explained, the trophy she had handed out to Hermione had a book on it, and Harry's had a broom. There were 3 trophies left, one of which also had a book and one of which had a star, 'the award for the most changed student from 1st to, in this case, 8th year, would usually be in academic terms. However this is why there are two awards this year. The staff and I have talked, and we believe that due to his dramatic change and the courage that must have taken, in personality terms this award goes to Draco Black.'

Draco was surprised, and this showed as his eyes widened and his pale face got even paler. Hermione gave him a prod and he walked to the stage, gathering himself as he did so.

'Thank you,' Draco said sincerely to McGonagall as he took the award, he then turned to everyone else, 'Well, wow, thank you to the staff for doing this because let's face it I was a smug, arrogant little tosser for the majority of my time here,' there were chuckles and nods around the crowd, 'but I have changed, and that change is thanks to more than one person, notably three people in fact. Ironically enough two of those people are Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom, who are fantastic friends, even though they _are _Gryffindor's, Most of all, this change is down to Hermione Granger, the girl I had a crush on pretty much all the way through Hogwarts who is finally my girlfriend and definitely the love of my life. So thank you, to all 3 of you.'

There were cheers at this and Draco made his way off the stage and into Hermione's arms. Harry and Neville chuckled and said something along the lines of 'nice speech' then started teasing Draco about how he was reformed now and no longer bad ass.

'The second part of this award,' McGonagall said as she picked up the second book trophy, 'goes to the student who has improved most academically over the years they have spent at Hogwarts. I think we all know who this award goes too, because he has worked hard and it has paid off, and I personally am very proud of him. This award goes to…Neville Longbottom.'

To anyone else it would have felt good, but to Neville this was something great, it was the highest achievement at the moment for him, because he had beaten the odds, he had done it, he was going to leave Hogwarts with good grades and he was going into a fantastic job. He wasn't the laugh of the school or the class clown, he had beaten those odds and to him that was one of the greatest feelings in the world when he accepted the trophy from McGonagall and made his short speech.

'Thank you everyone for this award, I might not have looked like much when I first arrived here and I know I was the laughing stock of Hogwarts, but it feels good, better than good in fact, to know I've beaten the odds. I've worked my way up, and I'm going to make a good life for myself and the beautiful Hufflepuff over there who agreed to marry me!' Neville said cheerfully and then he jumped off of the stage and hugged Hannah who was as proud of him as he was of himself. He had a moment where he whispered to Harry, 'I just wish my Grandmother were alive to see this.'

Harry smiled at his friend and put his arm around his shoulder, 'Don't worry Nev, she's watching.'

'The final award is for the best attendance throughout the years here,' McGonagall said and Harry whispered to Hermione, 'you'll get that one too.'

Hermione snorted and whispered back, 'yeah right, do you know how many classes I've missed being in the hospital wing, or out on an adventure with you, or you know that whole year I missed on the run with you.'

'Aw Mione,' Harry teased, 'you make it sound like I corrupted you,' he winked at her and Hermione laughed, 'between you and Draco I'm a ruin.'

'Did I just hear my girlfriend say 'between you and Draco' about Harry Potter?' Draco asked, skulking over to the two friends, 'I'm adventurous Hermione, but not that much.'

'Oh hush,' Hermione said with a smile as McGonagall announced the winner of the award…

'Zacharias Smith.'

There was a collective groan and even Flitwick rolled his eyes. Zacharias puffed his chest out and walked snootily up the stairs, he bowed to McGonagall accepted the award and started to talk.

'I would like to take this opportunity, firstly to thank everyone who helped me to get this award; all of the teachers, and my friends.'

'What friends?' Harry asked Draco in a whisper, Draco shrugged, 'his imaginary ones?'

'I am so thrilled that I achieved this award, after everything I've been through in these 8 years, to manage to make it to all of my classes on time, with all the distractions caused by Potter and his hero complex. It's nice to see that some people still value old fashioned hard work, and actually attending classes in an age where people like Potter, and Malfoy, just want to spend all of their time fighting and rebelling. Whereas I, Zacharias Ebenezer Smith, attended every class, throughout every year, and didn't run off trying to kill some dark lord and have sex with my best friend-'

At this point music started, music that anybody from a Muggle background would recognise as the theme music to 'Jaws' when the shark was approaching.

'GET OFF THE STAGE!'

'SHUT UP YOU TOSSER!'

Almost everyone in the room was booing or throwing something at Zacharias and eventually he took the point and rushed off of the stage grumbling about how he wasn't appreciated in this school.

'Come on,' Hermione said, dragging Theo up on to the stage. McGonagall was still shocked and horrified by Zacharias's speech said, 'And now, Miss. Granger and Mr. Nott will host a mock awards ceremony.'

McGonagall then left the stage to stand with the other teachers in the crowd and Hermione and Theo took over.

'Normally the awards would be serious, but this year we thought it would be fun to do our own, student run awards ceremony,' Hermione said brightly, 'which is why of course a few weeks ago you all voted on the questions.'

'And tonight the results will come out,' Theo said loudly.

'Myself, and your illustrious head boy-' Hermione began, but was interrupted by Theo, 'that's me by the way!'

Hermione rolled her eyes in amusement, 'are your hosts for tonight.'

'Are you ready?' Theo asked, getting everyone riled up. There were cheers and shouts so Theo said, 'Alright then, let's begin with our first category. Rear of the year, male and female. Hermione, would you like to tell us who is the male winner?'

'Of course Theo,' Hermione said and she opened an envelope, 'and the winner is Neville Longbottom!'

'WHAT?' Draco exclaimed, 'fatbottom? I mean, his nickname is _fat_bottom! His arse is not better than mine!'

Harry patted Draco on the back, 'there there Draco, your arse is perfectly lovely.'

'Thank you Harry,' Draco said, nodding as if the rest of the year should have agreed with this and Daphne giggled uncontrollably at the two boys.

Neville had ignored this exclamation from Draco and bounded to the stage where he did a mock bow like Harry did and said, 'Thank you very much, I am glad that my rear is appreciated!'

With that he was gone as fast as he had been on the stage and Hermione and Theo moved on.

'Theo, would you like to tell us whose rear won for the women?' Hermione asked and she handed Theo an envelope, 'I would Hermione, personally I think it should be Sadie Cauldwell, but that's just my opinion,' there were chuckles as he winked at his fiancé, 'and the winner is… Susan Bones, no surprises there!'

Susan winked at her friends and bounded to the stage, flaunting her assets, she got to the stage and said, 'Thank you all, your all perverts but since you voted for me here ya go,' and she turned around and shook her 'asset' then skipped off of the stage. Some of the teachers looked traumatised, but most of the students whistled.

'After that display, we'll move on to the next award,' Hermione said, still chuckling, 'which is the 'Most Attractive' Award, Theo, will you do the honours for the female winner?'

'Certainly,' Theo said, opening the envelope, 'and the person voted most attractive female in the year is…Daphne Greengrass!'

Daphne looked vaguely surprised, she'd gotten more conservative since being with Harry, all the same she floated rather beautifully up the stairs onto the stage and accepted the little trophy.

'Thanks everyone, it's really sweet of you all to think I'm attractive!' Daphne said, 'sorry to disappoint but I'm stuck with hero boy for the foreseeable future!'

There was chuckling as she flounced from the stage to join Harry back down in the crowd.

'And Hermione, please reveal the male winner. Personally I think it should be Draco Black, with his flowing blonde locks and endless grey eyes…'

'Alright Theo, don't get too carried away,' Hermione joked, and Harry couldn't help but grin at how great a comedy duo they were. Hermione opened the envelope and grinned.

'It's me, it's so me,' Draco said confidently, he was even getting ready to walk to the stage, 'I mean look at me, I'm flawless.'

'And the winner is…Harry Potter!'

'WHAT?'

Harry grinned and made his way to the stage, he could hear Draco ranting to Neville as he did so, 'Scarhead? Come on! That scar isn't a turn on, and he's a skinny runt, with glasses, how is that attractive? Look at me, I'm a perfect male specimen!'

'Alright Draco,' Neville teased, 'try not to get insecure now, what with me having a better arse than you and Harry being more attractive.'

'He is not more attractive!'

Harry chuckled and kissed Hermione on the cheek as he took the award from her, he turned to the crowd, 'Thanks for the award guys, I love it for one reason in particular, it has really pissed my good friend Draco off, and I'll have it as blackmail forever, so cheers!'

With that he left the stage and the 'hosts' moved onto the next award.

'Next is an award for the teachers!' Hermione said with a smile, 'for the best looking teacher, male and female!'

'And to get things started is our guest host, Kingsley Shacklebolt!' There were cheers as the Minister took the stage and waved at everyone, 'I'm here to announce the best looking female teacher award,' he said in his deep booming voice as he opened the envelope and smiled, 'and it's a draw! Between Aurora Sinistra and Minerva McGonagall!'

Sinistra chuckled and took the stage, she had won for the last few years so it was funny to her. McGonagall was pale and wide eyed as she got onto the stage amongst cheers from the students.

'YEAH! GO MINNIE!'

'Mr. Nott, I may not be able to give you detention, but I can still hex you,' McGonagall said and Theo gave a curt nod. Kingsley handed each woman a trophy and they both said thank you and got off the stage as quickly as they could.

'And to announce best looking male teacher we have special guest host Madam Rosmerta!'

Rosmerta walked onto the stage in a rather tight-fitting outfit to whistles and cheers from the male population, some teachers included. She waved at them all and grinned, 'Hey all! So the best looking teacher, voted by you guys is…and it's a draw! The two winners are Charlie Weasley and Alfons Poliakoff!'

Parvati cheered loudly, as did Sinistra as the two men took the stage. Charlie took the award first and said, 'Thanks for voting for me, all you teenage girls, and boys if you're into that kind of thing!'

'I voted for Poliakoff,' Draco said thoughtfully and Harry sniggered, 'you do know it said you didn't have to vote on that one if you were male right?'

'So?' Draco shrugged, 'did you vote?'

Harry's cheeks reddened only slightly, but Draco caught it and smirked, 'see, who did you vote for?'

'Charlie,' Harry admitted, 'if you ever tell him that I swear I'll hex you into oblivion.'

'Alright calm down scarhead.'

'Shut up ferret.'

'And the next award is,' Theo announced, 'Most likely to become an Unspeakable,' he ripped open the envelope, 'and it goes to Blaise Zabini, of course it does! That guys a human chameleon!'

Blaise silently made his way to the stage, so silently it was like he'd just appeared there by magic.

'Thanks,' he said, then he took the award and vanished again.

'That guy's fantastic,' Theo said and Hermione chuckled, 'the next award is the person most likely to become head of Hogwarts, and I'm pretty sure we all know who this award will go too,' she caught Harrys eye and smiled then opened the envelope, 'and as expected it's Harry Potter!'

Harry got to the stage once more, collecting his second mock award, 'Thanks again guys, I hope I'll be as good as Dumbledore!' he winked and left as quickly as that.

'The next award is for the person most likely to become Minister for Magic,' Theo said, revealing the winner and saying, 'and it's Neville Longbottom!'

Neville shook his head in amusement and took to the stage, he collected his second trophy and said, 'Well I can't say I've ever thought about it, but thanks anyway! Hope I'll be as good as Kingsley!' he said, echoing Harry and leaving the stage just as quickly.

'Look Draco,' Neville said, holding both trophies in his hand, 'two trophies, how many have you got Harry?'

'Oh just two,' Harry said casually, 'how about you Draco?'

'Shut up both of you, bloody heroic arseholes.'

'So that's zero then, yeah?'

'AND, next is the award for the person most likely to become the head of St. Mungo's,' Hermione announced, she grinned after looking at the paper, 'it's Hannah Abbott!'

Hannah was surprised but eagerly made her way onto the stage and hugged Hermione as she handed her the award, she then gave a short speech, 'Thanks guys! It's lovely for you to vote for me, I hope I make a good healer now!'

After that she made her way back to where she felt comfortable and out of the limelight, in Neville's arms.

'The next award goes to the person most likely to end up in the Hogs Head in 10 years' time,' Theo announced, looking down at the parchment in her hands, 'and it's Seamus Finnigan!'

Seamus took to the stage, did a mock bow, took his trophy and left after a short speech about the beauty of alcohol. After that Isabelle won 'most likely to have kids and become a housewife' which she seemed proud of for some bizarre reason. Then Tessie won 'most likely to get married and have an affair' which she said was one of her goals in life which was just disturbing frankly.

'And the next award,' Theo said, 'is for the person most likely to fail at everything in their life, a mock award obviously,' he opened up the parchment and looked down and sniggered, 'the winner is Zacharias Smith!'

Zacharias at this turned and walked out of the hall, Hermione felt slightly bad, until she realised that McGonagall was trying not to laugh.

'And it's a no show, which means the runner up wins and that is… awesome it's me!'

Theo then proceeded to hand himself the award, 'why thank you, you beautiful creature,' he said to himself and then he turned to the others, 'thank you all, I am officially a failure!'

Hermione was still laughing as she began to announce the next award, 'the next award goes to the person most likely to become a rebel after being a geek,' she opened up the parchment and gaped, 'and the winner is,' she couldn't say it so Theo looked down and said, 'it's Hermione! Well done Draco, you have officially corrupted her!'

Despite his bad mood at winning nothing so far this cracked Draco up, Theo took the trophy from Hermione and handed it back to her and she turned to the crowd, 'Well thanks, I guess!'

'And onto the next award!' Theo said cheerfully, 'this award goes to the person most likely to play Quidditch for their national team.'

'It better be me,' Draco said, he was going slightly crazy about the fact he hadn't won one award yet, 'I'm awesome, it better be me. I mean I BEAT Potter to the snitch, do they remember that? No all that they remember is that one time I got hit in the stomach because of stupid Potter!'

Daphne was stroking Draco's back while Harry and Neville shook with silent laughter.

'The winner is…it's Draco Malfoy!' Theo announced and Draco actually jumped up in delight and practically ran onto the stage where he tackled Theo and grabbed the award.

'YES! Finally, I won something!' Draco said happily, 'and I rightfully won this award, because I'm actually a better seeker than Potter, I'm faster, more skilled and much tougher,' he winked at Hermione whose face turned the colour of the quaffle, 'so this award is rightfully mine!'

With that he jumped off of the stage, waved the award in the faces of Harry and Neville and then proceeded to calm down when Daphne told him he looked slightly insane.

'The next award is for the biggest rebel,' Hermione announced, holding the next trophy in her hand, 'and the winner is our very own head boy, Theodore _Roosevelt _Nott!'

'Hermione, you are a bitch for reading out my middle name,' Theo said as he took the trophy, 'but all the same, I love you for reading out my name!' he turned to the crowd, 'I have never been prouder in my life, apart from when Sadie said she'd keep me around forever of course. It's nice to have my behavior as Hogwarts biggest rebel recognised, and it also feels pretty good to beat Draco!'

Hermione chuckled and let Theo calm down for a moment, he put the trophy down next to his other one and said, 'and the next award is for the best Quidditch player, no male or female here, just in general,' he opened up the envelope.

'It's gonna be, it's gotta be me,' Draco was saying, with his trophy clutched in his hand he was feeling more confident.

'It's Harry Potter!'

'Draco, hold my _two _trophies for me while I go collect my third,' Harry said, to which Draco responded, 'fuck off scarhead.'

Harry grinned and handed the trophies to Daphne then bounded up onto the stage and accepted the 3rd award, 'Thanks again guys, I'm glad you think I'm the best. I mean I know I'm the best, but it's nice to have recognition,' he joked and he left the stage to laughter.

'You shouldn't have won that,' Draco seethed, actually losing it, 'I caught the snitch.'

'Calm down Draco, you can release all the sexual tension later with Hermione,' Harry said lightheartedly and as pissed as Draco was, he couldn't not laugh at that comment.

Hermione read out the second last award, 'this one goes to the best couple,' she said smiling as she looked down and read out the winners, 'and it goes too.. Theodore Nott and Sadie Cauldwell!'

Theo was already on the stage and Sadie made her way up with a smile, Theo put his arm around her and Hermione handed them a trophy each.

'Thanks for voting for us guys,' Sadie said to the crowd, 'we might look like an odd unmatched couple, what with me being so normal and putting up with this idiot, but underneath it all I love him.'

'And everything she said is a lie,' Theo said playfully, 'she's not normal, especially in the bedroom!' There was laughter, even from Sadie as pink as her cheeks were. Then Sadie left the stage after hitting Theo playfully.

'And finally!' Theo said, 'to wrap up our awards ceremony, is the award to the couple that should have been!'

Harry was wondering about this one, he hoped people didn't vote for him and Hermione, that would be awkward.

'And the award goes to…' Theo laughed and had to start again, that wasn't a good sign, 'it goes to Draco Black and Harry Potter!'

'Oh Merlin,' Draco said and Harry burst out laughing, grabbed Draco by the wrist and pulled him up onto the stage.

There was laughter as the two boys accepted their trophies, both amused yet vaguely embarrassed at the same time.

'Well, what can I say?' Harry began, looking at the crowd, 'for all these years there has been unresolved sexual tension between Draco and I-'

'- it's not unresolved!'

'-alright then, shut up Susan!' Harry interjected to sniggering from the crowd, 'but clearly I've been bottling up my feelings of complete desire towards him.'

'Frankly, he's freaking me out,' Draco cut in, to yet more laughter, 'but all the same this award is obviously proof of what we've been denying so long…'

'I guess we should kiss or something,' Harry said in the most serious tone he could muster and there were cheers and wolf-whistles from the crowd.

'No way, I'm not kissing that,' Draco said in disgust and Harry breathed a sigh of relief, 'well thank Merlin for that! Thanks again guys, I guess!' he said and he and Draco left the stage. Daphne, Susan, Hannah and Neville were all in fits of laughter when the two slightly red faced friends rejoined them. Theo and Hermione wrapped up the ceremony and made their way to the group, both holding each other up with their laughter.

'Aw guys, that was brilliant,' Hermione said, and Draco rolled his eyes and kissed her, 'yes, very funny.'

'Theo you should be jealous, Draco's moving on,' Neville joked as he and Theo laughed together about the last award.

Harry sniggered and McGonagall took to the stage to announce the beginning of the dance. The stage was filled with a band, music began to play and so the dance began.

* * *

><p>Harry loved the way things were, he was still haunted by the war, but he was alive, and he was carefree. He could dance all night with his friends, and the love of his life, he wasn't constantly on the lookout for Voldemort. As he danced the night away, sometimes with Daphne, at other times with one of the other girls. Harry couldn't help but think about the diamond ring hidden away in the Mirror of Erised. Hidden at the top of a secret tower, through a room with a secret entrance was the key to his future, and his happiness. Harry had thought about grabbing it just in case the thought struck him, and now he was sort of wishing he had, because tonight would be perfect.<p>

He had other plans though, for graduation, Harry smiled softly to himself, hiding his face in Daphne's shoulder, he held her closer and danced slowly with her.

Then, there was an interruption, the music stopped.

Everyone looked around to find the source of the interruption, it was in the middle of the dance floor. Harry smiled when he realised what was happening.

'Sorry to do this on prom,' Blaise said to the gathering crowd, 'I'm usually quiet and keep to myself, but tonight I want to do something important and I want to make sure everyone sees it.'

Blaise was a man of few words, so this was practically a fully-fledged speech. He turned to Lavender who was wide-eyed, 'I love you Lavender,' he got down on one knee and pulled out a little black box out of his pocket, 'will you marry me?'

Lavender floundered speechlessly for a moment and then nodded, 'yes!'

Blaise smiled and put the ring on her finger, then Lavender hugged him tightly, kissing him in front of the rest of the year and the teachers who all cheered and clapped.

'That's nice,' Daphne whispered to Harry, she was grinning, 'he proposed in front of all of her friends.'

'And he's going to make an honest woman of her,' Harry added quietly, 'he's a nice guy Blaise, and Lavender…well she's just a girl whose been very misled.'

Daphne nodded and Harry wrapped his arms around her, he looked over her shoulder and noticed Draco sitting on his own. He frowned and kissed Daphne on the cheek, 'I'll be back in a minute.'

Harry left his confused girlfriend on the side of the dance floor and walked over to where Draco was sitting in the chairs along the side of the hall, he sat down next to the Slytherin.

'What is it?'

'The ring, it's always on my mind,' Draco said instantly, as if he was dying to talk about it.

'Mine too,' Harry said thoughtfully.

'I'm not good enough for her Harry, if she agrees to marry me all she's agreeing to is a life of shame and embarrassment,' Draco said, clearly starting to have doubts.

'Or a life with the man she loves,' Harry said, watching Draco scoff.

'I'm an embarrassment, I'll always be a Malfoy, I can change my name, but I can't change my face. I'll always be that asshole with a death eater for a Father who was a traitor in the war,' Draco said, being very down on himself.

'Or you'll become an Auror and save lives, people get second chances to redeem themselves,' Harry said firmly, he wasn't angry but he wanted to make it clear to Draco that he wasn't going to be a recluse for the rest of his life, 'Draco, you were a young, teenage boy who made all of the wrong choices. You were scared, but people aren't going to judge the man you've become because of that.'

Draco gave Harry a weak smile, and said a quiet thanks, Harry nodded and grabbed his friend by the arm.

'Now come on, find your future fiancé, and dance with her.'

Draco chuckled but didn't let Harry drag him away yet, 'Harry, I've decided…about graduation…' he seemed to wrestle with his inner thoughts for a moment, 'let's do it.'

Harry grinned brightly at this, 'Really?'

Draco nodded and managed another small smile, 'Yeah, I think we should.'

Harry hugged Draco in an excited show of emotion, 'Great, wow, we're really going to do this.'

'Yeah, feels kind of scary,' Draco said, as Harry let him go, Harry chuckled, 'it does,' he agreed.

'Come on,' Draco said, echoing Harry's words, 'let's go find our future fiancés and dance.'

_**TBC **_


	62. Our Last Days

**The 8th Year**

**Chapter 62 – Our Last Days**

When Hermione Granger woke up the day after her prom it took her a little while to get out of bed. She sighed and listened to the silence around her, everyone was asleep, she was always the first one up. This was it, her last day at Hogwarts.

She had grown up here, all of her happiest, and some of her saddest, memories were within these walls and leaving them forever was going to be so difficult. She didn't feel stuck, no, she wanted to move on with her life, to get onto the next thing, but it didn't mean that she wouldn't look behind every so often.

Hermione dressed quickly and made her way down the stairs into the common room, it was 6am in the morning, on a Saturday, and giving that the prom had been the day before she hadn't expected anyone else to be up.

'Oh, hey Mione,' Susan said, from where she was lounging in front of the fire, it may have been summer but it was still chilly this early in the morning.

'Hey Susan,' Hermione said, her surprise coming across in her voice, 'what are you doing up so early?'

'Didn't sleep much last night,' Susan admitted, Hermione frowned and sat down next to her friend, 'Why?'

Susan sighed and handed Hermione a letter, she unfolded it and realised straight away from the handwriting that it was from Percy.

'_Hey Susan,_

_Sorry to do this in a letter, but I didn't have time to say goodbye properly. I can't tell you who via owl, but a very dangerous death eater is on the run after escaping Azkaban, I suspect the papers will catch wind of it soon enough. I'm working with the Auror department to hunt him down but that means I'll be spending the foreseeable future in Asia. _

_I don't know how long I'll be, but I don't expect you to put your life on hold and wait for me. _

_Be safe,_

_Percy.'_

'Oh,' Hermione said as she handed the letter back, 'well it's not like he broke up with you.'

'He couldn't,' Susan said rather bitterly, 'I don't even know if we were ever official.'

'The way he's writing Susan it sounds like you were,' Hermione said truthfully.

'What does it matter now? You saw what he wrote,' Susan said with a deep sigh.

'It matters, if you love someone enough then you wait for them, because nobody else is good enough,' Hermione said, and it came from the heart.

Susan snorted at this, 'You can't lecture me on waiting for him Hermione, you didn't wait for Ron, you slept with your best friend.'

This blow was low, and it really hurt Hermione, 'Gee, thanks Susan,' she said darkly, 'that situation was completely different, we were in the middle of a war, we both needed someone.'

Susan shook her head in annoyance, 'but if you had been _so_ in love with Ron then you wouldn't have done it.'

'Well clearly I wasn't so in love with Ron,' Hermione snapped angrily, 'I didn't realise it until that night in the tent when push came to shove but I loved Harry.'

Susan gaped at her friend for a moment before eventually closing her mouth, 'I'm sorry Hermione…I didn't realise that there were…'

'Feelings?' Hermione asked harshly, 'Do you really think I'm the kind of person who would just sleep with anyone, regardless of how I felt about them?'

'Are you saying I'm that kind of girl?' Susan asked with narrowed eyes at Hermione.

'Well you slept with Harry all summer, didn't you?' Hermione asked again harshly.

'Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe I had feelings for him too?' Susan blurted out, covering her mouth the moment the words had left it.

Hermione frowned as she followed Susan's line of sight to the bottom of the stairs where Daphne was standing, her mouth was open slightly and her eyes wide.

'Well, this is awkward,' Daphne said as she walked forward into the room.

'I didn't realise you were there,' Hermione said quickly, and Susan could only nod in agreement.

'I'm a Slytherin, I'm sneaky,' she explained as she sat down on the armchair across from Hermione and Susan, 'so, both of you have had sex with, and had feelings for, my boyfriend.'

'In my defence, he wasn't your boyfriend then, and you already knew I'd had sex with him,' Susan said thoughtfully, she and Daphne had been friends since about 5th year, but had gotten closer in 8th year thanks to McGonagall's house unity rule.

Daphne smiled slightly at this, 'Hermione, your turn.'

Hermione didn't smile, she didn't find this funny, 'Well I don't have a witty answer like Susan. I really loved him Daph, and a part of me always will, but he'll never stop being my best friend. We talked about this, one night in November when you and Harry had just gotten together, and it wasn't a fleeting thing between us, it was something more.'

'I respect that,' Daphne said honestly, 'you forget the extremely non-fleeting nature of my relationship with your boyfriend.'

Susan sniggered slightly and Hermione said, 'Who Susan has also slept with.'

'That was one time in my defence,' Susan said, and Hermione sensed a recurring theme here.

There was some chuckling and then.

'Hermione,' Susan said thoughtfully, 'if that happened with Harry during the war, why did you and Ron get together after?'

Hermione pondered this for a moment, she had never really been sure herself, 'Well, Harry and I agreed not to talk about it when Ron came back, and it was as if it never happened to Harry which upset me. I started to spend a little more time with Ron because Harry became so absorbed in the war and his own pain that he couldn't let anyone in anymore. I don't know if I ever loved Ron, not in the way I love Draco now, but it felt right at the time.'

'I'm glad you got out of it when you did,' Susan said to Hermione, 'I think given time the anger he couldn't control would have turned to violence towards you.'

'Maybe,' Hermione agreed, thinking back to how Ron had nearly killed Draco when he found out what had happened between him and Hermione.

'And you and Draco are well matched,' Daphne said with a smile, 'I never thought I'd see him with a Gryffindor, let alone a muggle-born. You've changed him, for the better.'

'And Harry has changed you,' Susan said to Daphne with a grin, 'you've thawed, we can't call you ice queen anymore.'

Daphne laughed at this, 'I guess so,' she said happily, 'but Percy changed you too, love changes everyone.'

Susan's smile dropped at this and her face fell. Daphne frowned, 'What's wrong?' she asked and Susan answered by throwing the letter at Daphne. She caught it and opened it, reading it quickly.

'Well, he hasn't broken up with you, in fact it seems to me like he's asking you to wait for him,' Daphne said as she threw the letter back to Susan.

'How do you get that?' Susan asked as she reread the letter.

'By saying don't wait for me, he's implying that he wants you too,' Daphne said simply, as if this were obvious.

'I think you ought to wait,' Hermione agreed, 'what you two have isn't something that should easily be thrown away.'

'I feel like the odd one out sometimes,' Susan admitted, not looking at her friends, 'You both have boyfriends in our year, and then there's Han and Nev, and Sadie and Theo,' she sighed, 'then there's me.'

'Just because you aren't dating someone the same age as you doesn't make you the odd one out,' Daphne said gently, 'and as of tomorrow we'll be out of here anyway.'

'Yeah,' Susan said thoughtfully, 'that's a scary thought.'

'I know,' Hermione agreed, 'I'm terrified.'

'Hogwarts has been home for so long,' Daphne said as she stared out of the window, 'being away will feel wrong.'

'Where are you staying after graduation?' Hermione asked.

'With Harry, in Grimmauld Place,' Daphne replied, 'what about you?'

'I don't know, I think Draco and I are going to go to our respective homes for a while, then try and find a flat,' Hermione said sadly.

'I don't know where I'm going to stay,' Susan said miserably, 'I've spent my last few summers with Hannah's parents but her and Nev are going to look for a flat together.'

'Why don't you get a flat with Melody or something?'

'She's leaving with Roy, and I can't afford to rent my own flat. Auror training pay is rubbish, until I qualify I'm poor,' Susan said, she seemed genuinely scared about her future.

'I don't know where I'm going to live either,' Sadie said as she and Hannah emerged from the staircase together.

'I mean, Theo and I are getting married but we don't even have a house yet,' she added as she dropped down onto another armchair and Hannah sat down with Susan and Hermione on the sofa.

'And Nev and me need to find a place too,' Hannah said with a sigh, 'it's all so complicated.'

'I don't know what any of you are talking about,' a new, male voice said in amusement as Harry emerged from the boys staircase and leant against the armchair that Daphne was sitting on, 'since I have a massive, newly refurbished house and all.'

'Hah, and you want all of us to live with you?' Susan asked as if this idea was insane.

'He's probably being serious,' Hermione said and Harry nodded, 'I am. Grimmauld Place has 16 bedrooms or something insane, and it would be free so you might as well, if you want too.'

'Shouldn't you be checking this with Daphne first?' Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes at her best friend.

'Oh we talked about it last night,' Daphne said casually, 'I don't mind. I'd kind of miss you all, it would be like Hogwarts, sort of.'

'One big happy, dysfunctional family,' another voice said and Draco appeared smirking from the staircase.

'Very bloody dysfunctional,' yet another voice said as Neville followed him out of it.

'Merlin, everyone is up early today,' Daphne said in amusement.

'What do you expect?' Neville asked with a chuckle, 'we're all as nervous as the next person about graduation tomorrow.'

'Unless the next person is Theo,' Sadie said with a chuckle.

'Yeah, I don't expect to see him till noon regardless of whether or not its graduation tomorrow,' Draco said with a grin.

'Wrong,' Theo said as he emerged yawning from the boys stairway, 'I heard talking, didn't want to miss out on the action.'

'We were just discussing you guys all living at my house in Grimmauld Place,' Harry said casually to his Slytherin friend who asked, 'do we have to pay you anything?'

Harry laughed and said, 'Nah, not unless you break anything.'

'Alright we're in,' he glanced over at Sadie, 'uh, I think. Are we Sadie?'

'Yes,' Sadie said, shaking her head in almost fond exasperation at Theo, 'we're in.'

'I wouldn't mind living with you,' Draco admitted, 'anything is better than the manor, and the company would be nice.'

'I agree with Draco,' Hermione said with a smile, 'we would move in with you.'

'I know I wouldn't mind the company,' Susan said with a small smile, 'and having a place to live is handy too.'

'I'm with the others,' Neville said casually, 'although it might get awkward if we floo together to Auror training…'

'Yeah, you, Harry, Draco and Theo all arriving from the same fireplace,' Daphne said with a wink at which all four boys were disgusted at.

'So it's decided,' Harry said casually, 'you'll all come live with me,' he grinned, 'see graduation doesn't seem sad anymore.'

'No,' Draco agreed, and Neville nodded, 'but it's still terrifying.'

'Agreed,' Hermione said with a laugh.

'So, it's our last night in Hogwarts tonight,' Harry said with a grin, 'who wants to have some fun?'

'It can't hurt,' Daphne said as she smirked, 'it _is _our last night after all.'

'We could have fun with this,' Draco agreed and Neville nodded eagerly.

Hermione, Sadie and Hannah shared exasperated glances, but agreed, and Susan said, 'yes, I'm definitely up for it!'

'It will be a night to remember,' Harry said with a Dumbledore-esque twinkle in his eyes.

* * *

><p>Later that Saturday morning the group found themselves feeling slightly nervous on route to the antechamber in the great hall for their leaving coffee morning which was traditionally the day before graduation.<p>

'So, it's just us in a room with all of the teachers?' Theo asked with a yawn, still tired from the early morning.

'Theo it's important,' Sadie said quickly, 'it's our last chance to say goodbye to our teachers.'

'And our last chance to thank them,' Hermione added, she would probably thank every teacher personally.

'Don't forget the free cake Theo,' Draco said which brightened Theo up considerably as the group walked through the strangely empty great hall towards the open door at the end.

'I've never been in that little room before,' Hannah said excitedly as they approached the door.

'It's nothing exciting,' Harry said, remembering it from 4th year, 'just a big room with some trophies and a fireplace.

'Don't spoil her fun Harry,' Neville teased, implying Hannah got excited easily.

When they entered the room it was fairly full, most of the other 8th years were there already, it was full of teachers too, some Harry knew well and some that he didn't know so well because he had never taken their subjects. Most of the Ravenclaws were talking to teachers, and Padma and Lavender were locked in what appeared to be a thoroughly interesting discussion with Trelawney. Most of the other students were standing around awkwardly drinking from mugs or eating cake.

As they were surveying the scene a voice welcomed them from nearby and they looked over to see McGonagall.

'Good morning.'

'Morning Professor,' Theo yawned, making the others snigger and even McGonagall smile slightly.

'Good morning Mr. Nott. Now, I assume you all know that the purpose of this morning is to discuss your future with your teachers, and say goodbye.'

They all nodded, and it was then that the group split. Sadie made her way over to Slughorn, Daphne went towards her Ancient Runes professor. Theo went to talk to the new Muggle Studies Professor. Hannah, Neville and Susan both approached Professor Sprout and Hermione surprisingly made her way over to Flitwick, which left Harry and Draco alone with McGonagall.

The night before they had discussed their proposal which would happen the next day and they had come to the conclusion that they would need McGonagall's help for it to work. The two men shared a glance, and Draco gave Harry a miniscule nod.

'Professor McGonagall,' Harry said quietly, 'could Draco and I have a word with you about Graduation?'

McGonagall frowned slightly but said, 'Of course you may.'

Harry glanced around, Daphne and Hermione were both on the far side of the room, 'We want to propose to our girlfriends on the stage tomorrow once the proceedings are done, but we need your help.'

McGonagall was smiling very slightly, not many people would notice, but Harry knew her well enough to notice it very quickly, 'Why would I allow you to do this? I denied your Father Mr. Potter when he asked if he could propose at Graduation.'

'Well,' Harry said with a grin, 'no offence Professor, but my Father wasn't an accomplished war hero by that point.'

'Regardless Mr. Potter, it goes against some rules,' McGonagall said as she tried to hold back a smile.

'I know, but so many other rules have been compromised this year to let us come back and finish our schooling. I'm not saying breaking the rules is always right Professor, but wouldn't it be perfect considering what a horrible end to the school year last year was?' Harry asked, partly putting on his puppy dog eyes, but he was also very serious about proposing to Daphne and it meant a lot for him to be able to do it at Graduation.

McGonagall relented slightly, she nodded seriously, 'I agree Mr. Potter. I believe it would be a good end to the year,' she paused and stared Harry down for a moment, 'I will break the rules, just this once.'

Draco and Harry both grinned broadly at this until McGonagall said, 'However, it must be done with a certain level of decorum befitting the occasion. I believe you Mr. Potter are now capable of this, however Mr. Black I worry you may have been influenced too much by Mr. Nott.'

Draco smiled slightly, 'But Professor, what if I promise to be really really good?'

'I shall believe that when I see it Mr. Black,' McGonagall said, still smiling slightly.

'When? So you'll let us then,' Harry said with a beam.

McGonagall then smiled properly and said quietly, 'I do not say this often to my students, but I believe you both deserve it, I would be happy to witness your plans for tomorrow.'

The grins on Harry and Draco's faces couldn't be wiped at this, McGonagall added, 'I will call you on to the stage with Miss. Greengrass and Miss. Granger at the end of the ceremony.'

'Thank you Professor,' Draco said sincerely, 'it really means a lot.'

'You are welcome Mr. Black,' McGonagall said as Draco shook her hand, thanked her again and made his way over to Theo.

'Thank you Professor,' Harry re-iterated with a smile, 'not just for this, for everything you've done for me throughout my time here.'

McGonagall's smile seemed genuine as she said, 'I don't say this to everyone Mr. Potter, but believe it or not I do have favourites. Watching you overcome the things you had too during your time here made me fond of you, and I think you deserve every ounce of happiness in the future.'

'I think at some point Professor my future will lead me back here,' Harry admitted with a slight smile.

'I can assure you that I would always be willing to offer you a job here whenever you want one,' McGonagall said fondly, adding with a Dumbledore-esque twinkle in her eyes, 'after all Hogwarts will always be here to welcome you home Harry.'

'I'll be sure to remember that,' Harry said as he shook McGonagall's hand, full of nerves and excitement for the following day.

The rest of the coffee morning passed by slowly, and with not much of interest happening as Harry thanked the rest of his teachers, although with Dumbledore dead McGonagall was the one who meant the most to him. The only other thing that Harry found amusing that morning was the fact that Professor Snape had ventured from his portrait outside the 8th year common room to be nosy at what was going on.

Harry sniggered at first when he saw Violet and the Fat Lady making a fuss over Snape, but it got even more amusing when he overheard a conversation between Snape and Zacharias Smith while talking to Professor Trelawney.

'But Professor Snape, surely you must understand,' Zacharias was saying.

'No Smith,' Snape cut off the Hufflepuff, 'as opposed to your frankly infantile hatred of your fellow pupils purely because they don't like you very much, I had a good relationship with most people in my year bar a few Gryffindor imbeciles.'

'Oh right, yeah I know what you mean. Gryffindor imbeciles like Harry Potter, he thinks hes such a hero or whatever, but he's just a loser,' Zacharias said bitterly.

'As much as I dislike Potter he _is _a hero, and he only ever got himself in trouble, he merely had a personality that drew people in and convinced them to rally for him,' Snape sneered.

_Hang on a minute, _Harry thought to himself as he heard this, _Is he defending me? I think he is._

'What? You like Potter now?' Zacharias asked with a snort.

'I neither like nor dislike Harry Potter. He is what he is, which is an astoundingly brave young man who managed to create a safe world for people undeserving like you to live in,' Snape spat at Zacharias.

At this point Zacharias said, 'Why is everyone against me?' and stormed off like a huffy child.

Harry smirked as he heard Snape mumble, 'that boy is such a wanker.'

He walked the short distance to the portrait Snape was using and said, 'Thanks Professor, I think that's the nicest thing you've said to me since you told me you were in love with my Mum.'

'Potter I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about,' Snape snapped, 'I believe that abnormally large head of yours is hearing things.'

Harry smiled, 'You can pretend you didn't say anything if you want, but thanks anyway,' he said as he walked away from the portrait version of the greasy haired, hook-nosed potions master.

'You knew Harry was there,' another voice said as Draco smirked at the portrait of his Godfather, 'you said that on purpose when he was in hearing range.'

Snape showed no sign facially that this was accurate and merely responded with, 'I believe Potter has had too much of an influence on you Draco.'

Draco grinned and walked away, saying as he did so, 'you didn't deny it!'

* * *

><p>It was 11pm, curfew was over, and it was the night before graduation.<p>

Gathered in the 8th year common room were 8 students, all dressed from head to toe in black. But one was missing.

'Where the hell is Harry?' Theo whined as he lounged on the sofa.

'I would have thought he would be eager,' Draco said, he sounded fed up, 'after all this _was _his idea.'

'Fashionably late,' Harry said as he emerged from the boys staircase dressed in Dumbledore-esque multi-coloured robes.

Draco let his head drop into his hands, 'Potter, the whole point of this is stealth.'

Neville chuckled and reminded the others, 'he has an invisibility cloak.'

'Exactly Nev,' Harry said with a grin as he pulled the cloak from his pocket, 'for that you can come under it with me.'

This led to a mass amount of muffled giggling and Neville shaking his head in amusement, 'No thanks Harry, I'll pass.'

'Ah no worries Nev. Daph, fancy it?' Harry asked his girlfriend who chuckled and said, 'sure,' she made her way over to him and looked around at the others, 'so, what's the plan?'

There was an awkward silence during which everyone looked around waiting for someone to say something.

'Let me get this straight,' Hermione said as she looked at the others, 'nobody actually has a plan?'

'Hermione,' Harry said with a smirk, 'No offence, but when have any of our plans ever worked?'

'Good point,' Hermione said with a smile.

'I think we should just go for a walk around the place while it's ours and nobody else is around,' Neville said, seeming slightly embarrassed, 'you know, say goodbye to the place one last time.'

Hannah smiled and said, 'that's nice Nev.'

Harry nodded, grinning broadly, 'I think that's a great idea.'

And so they went forth on their venture of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry and Daphne led the way under the invisibility cloak, between them they held the Marauders Map and scanned it for any dangers. Luckily Filch was in the North Tower with Trelawney instead of patrolling and shouting at Peeves. The other Professors were all in their respective offices or dormitories, and the corridors were free of all human irritants.

'I think it's the ghosts we're going to have to watch out for,' Harry whispered to the others as they sneaked along the 7th floor corridor and got tutted at by the portraits who were trying to sleep.

'What makes you say that?' Daphne asked as she studied the map in her wandlight.

'Peeves is crashing around in the Trophy Room,' Harry pointed out, 'and the Baron is haunting the dungeons.'

'We'll steer clear of those floors then,' Draco said, pointing out the obvious from where he was trying not to fall over Daphne and Harry since they were invisible.

'Hey, where's McGonagall?' Daphne asked with a frown. She stopped to look at the map and Draco walked into her, 'bloody invisible people,' he cursed under his breath.

Harry shook his head in amusement and glanced down at the map, he scanned McGonagall's office and quarters, but she wasn't there. After a brief scan of the entire map he concluded, 'she isn't in the castle.'

Hermione chuckled and said, 'she's probably with Kingsley.'

There was much sniggering at this, and then Neville was struck with an idea, 'if McGonagall isn't in the castle she wouldn't know if we snuck into her office…'

Harry grinned at the smirk on Neville's face, 'I like the way you think,' he said eagerly.

'One problem,' Sadie piped up, glancing at the excited boys.

'What would that be know-it-all?' Theo asked almost lovingly.

'Well the portraits of all the ex-Headmasters on the wall would see us and tell her,' Sadie said with raised eyebrows.

'What if we were really quiet so we didn't wake them up,' Hannah suggested, glancing at the others.

'That won't happen,' Daphne said with a smirk, 'we have Susan with us.'

Susan laughed at this and nodded, 'That's fair. I'd probably fall over or something.'

'Can't we charm them to stay asleep?' Hermione asked, this seemed like an obvious option to her.

'Why didn't any of us think of that?' Harry asked, amazed at the simplicity of the solution.

'Because none of you are teenage geniuses like Hermione,' Draco pointed out with an exasperated and proud smirk.

Hermione blushed slightly and Neville laughed, 'true, so, are we gonna do this?'

'Definitely,' Harry said with a grin as he led the way towards the gargoyle that guarded the Headmistresses office.

GGG.

'Shit.'

'Are you only just realising that we don't know the password?' Theo asked Harry with a snigger.

'I didn't think this far ahead,' Harry admitted as he turned to Hermione who frowned, 'why are you looking at me? I don't know it.'

'I thought you were the Head Girl,' Harry said with an irritated glance at the stone gargoyle.

'Yes but the password changes monthly, it changed yesterday and we leave tomorrow so I don't know what it is,' Hermione said as she bit her lip.

'We might as well start guessing then,' Draco piped up.

'It's usually got something to do with Scotland,' Theo informed the others, Hermione nodded her agreement, 'Yeah, McGonagall grew up here.'

'So start guessing Scottish words,' Harry mumbled, thinking out loud. This caused a barrage of Scottish words and themes to be thrown at the poor gargoyle in quick succession.

'Tartan!'

'Haggis!'

'Kilts!'

'Edinburgh!'

'Loch Ness!'

'Loch Ness Monster!'

'Nessie!' ('Theo, how do you know the name of the Loch Ness Monster?', 'Oh, I saw it once on holiday. I fed it fish and chips'.)

'I think the stuff we're coming up with is too typical,' Daphne said thoughtfully, 'I think we need to think of something more subtle about Scotland.'

'It's worrying how little we know about the place we've gone to school in for the last 8 years,' Hannah mused, sounding guilty.

'Maybe it has something to do with Scottish history,' Hermione guessed, 'um…William Wallace,' the gargoyle didn't budge.

'Robert the Bruce,' Susan tried, but nothing happened.

'Alexander the III?' Harry asked, but again nothing.

'Wasn't he Egyptian?' Theo asked with a frown that made Sadie laugh, 'I think you might be getting confused with Alexander the Great babe, and even he wasn't Egyptian, he just conquered Egypt.'

'This doesn't seem to be working,' Draco said cynically, 'maybe we should continue the traditional approach.'

'Whisky!'

'Highland Cattle!'

'Braveheart!' ('Theo, how did you fail your Muggle Studies exam?', 'Because I have no fucking clue what the hell Braveheart is, but it sounds vaguely Scottish'.)

'Deep fried Mars Bars!' ('What the _fuck_ is a deep fried Mars Bar?', 'Death on a plate', 'She's right, trust me').

'Saltire!'

'Sean Connery!' (Who the _hell _is Sean Connery?', 'Oh a Muggle Actor', 'Hermione, do you have a crush on him?!', 'What? No! Pierce Brosnan is my favourite bond', 'Do you have any idea what a bond is?', 'Nope', 'Yeah me neither'.)

'Gingers!'

'Oi!' Susan said with a glare towards Draco.

'What?' he asked, not understanding her reason for being defensive.

'I'm Scottish,' Susan said with her eyebrows raised.

'And you're ginger, which proves my point,' Draco said matter of factly which earned him a slap over the back of the head.

'You deserved that,' Hermione said with a small smile as Draco rubbed the spot where he had been hit.

'Why are we assuming the password is Scottish themed?' Harry asked as a sudden brainwave hit him, 'Albus!'

The moment the words were spoken the gargoyle sprung to life and jumped out of the way, revealing the stairway to the office.

'Well that answers some questions,' Theo said with an amused smirk as they ascended the stairs to the office.

GGG.

When they were in the office Hermione cast a charm on the portraits to keep them asleep and then the group wondered what to do now that they were actually in the office.

'That was fun, let's go back to the common room now,' Draco said, shaking his head, vaguely amused but also exasperated.

'Where's the fun in that?' Harry asked as he reached up onto one of the high shelves in the office and pulled down something grey and tatty.

Draco narrowed his eyes at his friend as he realised what he was holding, 'No Potter.'

'Since when did you start calling me Potter again?' Harry asked jokingly, 'and come on guys, it will be fun. We can all put the hat back on and see what it says.'

There was a chorus of eager noises from Neville, Hannah, Hermione and Susan, but Draco, Theo, Sadie and Daphne all looked much less eager.

Harry smirked and popped the hat on his head. He shut his eyes and used Legilimency on the object which impressed the others as they had no idea Harry was capable of the spell, or that the hat worked in that way.

In his head Harry spoke to the hat, _'Hello hat'._

'_Hello Harry Potter. I speak to most students once, this is my third time conversing with you.'_

'_Yeah, sorry about that. I wondered if you could do me one last favour?'_

'_So long as it does not involve me being set on fire I shall oblige.'_

'_No, not this time. My friends and I just wondered if you could tell us if we belong in different houses now that the war is over. Just for our own curiosity.'_

'_Curiosity killed the cat Harry Potter.'_

'_Yes, but I'm not a hat.'_

'_No, you are a witty young man.'_

'_You think I'm witty? Gee thanks hat, that means a lot.'_

'_Witty and sarcastic. Were I to sort you now I believe you would still be suited to Gryffindor or Slytherin. Your courage is outstanding, but you have the nature and ambition of a Slytherin.'_

'_That's interesting. Thanks hat, I expect you'll have fun sorting my children.'_

'_I look forward to meeting another Potter. I find they are always interesting to sort.'_

Harry grinned and pulled the hat from his head and looked around at the others who were watching with interest.

'So what did it say?' Daphne asked eagerly, Hermione was smiling, Harry suspected that she already knew.

'That I have the courage of a Gryffindor but the nature and ambition of a Slytherin,' Harry said as he handed the hat to Neville.

'Why does it not surprise me that we've Slytherinised you?' Draco asked with a smirk as he and Theo hi-fived.

Daphne grinned and said, 'oh I think I had much more of a Slytherin influence on him than you did boys.'

Harry chuckled and nodded, 'I think that's a fair assessment.'

Draco and Theo shook their heads disbelievingly as Neville put the hat on his head with some trepidation.

'_Uh, hi Mr…hat.'_

'_Ah Neville Longbottom, an interesting one to sort. The son of two Gryffindors who acted as cowardly as a Hufflepuff.'_

'_I didn't think I was that cowardly.'_

'_Yet now I can see that you belong whole-heartedly in Gryffindor. You possess the courage and loyalty of Godric Gryffindor himself.'_

'_Wow, thanks.'_

Neville pulled the hat off and grinned, 'Whole-hearted Gryffindor with the courage and loyalty of Godric Gryffindor himself apparently.'

'Is that hat drunk?' Draco joked, but Hannah chuckled and said, 'I think that's accurate.'

'Do you want to go next?' he asked as he held the hat out to her.

Hannah nodded and took the hat from him then put it on her head.

'_Hannah Abbot. I remember you, a fully-fledged Hufflepuff even at the tender age of 11.'_

'_I'm not so sure that's a compliment.'_

'_I see a change, the courage of a Gryffindor, yet you still belong in Hufflepuff where thou are just, loyal and kind-hearted. Very rarely do I have the chance to sort someone so similar to Helga herself, an honour young Hannah Abbott.'_

'_Thank you'._

Hannah was blushing slightly as she took the hat off and modestly told the others, 'it said I have the courage of a Gryffindor but belong in Hufflepuff because I'm similar to Helga Hufflepuff.'

'I wonder if Helga and Godric had a love affair,' Sadie joked, glancing between Hannah and Neville who laughed.

'You should try it next Sadie, it's really interesting,' Hannah said happily.

Sadie looked cautious, but then Daphne said, 'oh go on Sadie, I'll do it after,' and this seemed to ease Sadie's mind slightly.

Sadie took the hat from Hannah and put it on her head quickly before she had a chance to change her mind.

'_Hmm, Sadie Cauldwell once more. A Slytherin at the time I believe, but no…ah, that's right. You were a stall.'_

'_You contemplated Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.'_

'_Indeed. You had the loyalty and kindness of Hufflepuff, yet the intelligence and want for knowledge of Ravenclaw.'_

'_So why did I end up in Slytherin?'_

'_Your ambition Sadie Cauldwell was always very prominent, and you portrayed cunning although perhaps that may have changed over time…'_

'_So do I still belong in Slytherin?'_

'_Oh yes, in some ways. However I believe you belong much more with the traits of Ravenclaw currently.'_

'_Oh, that's interesting.'_

'Apparently I'm more suited for Ravenclaw now,' Sadie said with interest to the others as she took the hat from her head.

'Well that's hardly surprising,' Hermione said with a smile, 'after all you're the only challenge to my grades.'

Sadie laughed, 'and that's saying something,' she said as she gave the hat to a slightly timid Daphne.

She put the hat on her head only slightly reluctantly however.

'_Daphne Greengrass…a Slytherin through and through when I sorted you. As was your sister of course.'_

'_My entire family have been Slytherins.'_

'_I see you have changed…yes, much more difficult now to determine where you belong. You possess the cunning and wit of Slytherin, but the courage and charm of Gryffindor. Yet you also possess the intelligence of Ravenclaw and the kindness of Hufflepuff. You are the first person I have seen who could belong in any of the four houses since Albus Dumbledore himself.'_

'_You're comparing me to Dumbledore? I'm still Slytherin'._

'_Indeed, I do not doubt it.'_

Daphne pulled the hat from her head and addressed the others, 'apparently I'm the first person since Dumbledore who could belong in any of the four houses,' she told them disbelievingly.

Theo responded to this with, 'Oh my god, you're McGonagall and Dumbledore's illegitimate child!'

'Grandchild more like,' Draco sniggered, and this set the two of them off into hysterical laughter.

Harry chuckled and patted Daphne on the back, 'Don't worry, you've still got plenty Slytherin in you,' he assured her.

Daphne winked at Harry and passed the hat to Hermione who was standing next to her, 'we all know what it's going to tell you,' she teased.

'You never know with Hermione, it might tell her she belongs in Slytherin,' Harry said with a laugh.

Hermione shook her head and said, 'I don't think so somehow,' as she placed the hat carefully on her head.

'_Hermione Granger, ah yes, I remember you well. I couldn't decide between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.'_

'_Thank you for deciding on Gryffindor.'_

'_My pleasure Hermione Granger. Hmm, interesting.'_

'_What's interesting?'_

'_It seems now you could belong in any of 3 houses…I see much of Gryffindors courage and wit within you. Yet there is also the incredible intelligence and intuition of Ravenclaw…and yes, the ambition and cunning of Slytherin also shines through.'_

'_Slytherin? Really?'_

'_You Hermione Granger are a unique combination of two rival houses.'_

'_Oh, well thank you.'_

Hermione pulled the hat from her head, she shook it in amusement, 'I'm a mixture between Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin apparently.'

'Told ya,' Harry teased and Hermione shook her head in amusement once more.

'And it only proves how much of a kid genius and geek you are,' Draco added which made Hermione laugh.

'I still don't know why you ended up in Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw,' Susan admitted thoughtfully.

Hermione smiled and said, 'the hat has a consciousness and an awareness of events and the climate of the Wizarding World. I think it knew Harry needed me.'

Harry smiled and briefly hugged his best friend, 'Aw, you're cute Mione.'

'Oi, that's my girlfriend you're calling cute,' Draco joked as Susan took the hat excitedly from Hermione and jammed it on her head.

'_Hey hat guy.'_

'_Hello Susan Bones, the Hufflepuff girl I was unsure of… yes I remember, I didn't know if you were best suited to Hufflepuff, Gryffindor or Slytherin.'_

'_Are you more sure now?'_

'_The strength of mind, the loyalty and the kindness you show towards others Susan Bones only tells me that Hufflepuff is where you truly belong. Yet you portray great courage which suits you to Gryffindor, and intense cunning and ambition which suits you to Slytherin.'_

'_But still a Hufflepuff through and through?'_

'_Indeed.'_

'_And proud of it, cheers hat.'_

'Hufflepuff through and through, with Gryffindor courage and Slytherin cunning and ambition,' Susan grinned as she took the hat off and placed it on the table.

'Well you're hardly Hufflepuff through and through if you've got Gryffindor and Slytherin traits,' Hannah teased and Susan shrugged with a smile, 'hey I'm mostly Hufflepuff, and proud to be it.'

'Good, someone has to be,' Theo teased which got him slapped by Susan _and _Hannah.

'Leave everyone else alone and put the hat on yourself you wimp,' Sadie said with a grin as she handed it to him, but Theo wouldn't take it.

'I'm fine thanks.'

'Aw c'mon Theo, it's only you and Draco who haven't yet, don't be such a spoil sport,' Sadie said, she turned on her sad puppy dog eyes and Theo groaned.

'Fine,' he said as he took the hat. Sadie grinned, she knew she was about the only person in the world that Theo couldn't say no too.

Theo tentatively placed the hat on his head, wincing like it was going to attack him which made the others smile or shake their heads in amusement.

'_Hmm, Theodore Nott. Yes, a Slytherin, very much so at 11 years of age…'_

'_Good to hear.'_

'_Ah, but not so much now…I see many other traits in you.'_

'_Are you sure?'_

'_Oh very sure Theodore Nott. I see the courage of Gryffindor within you, although you may not show it often…and I see the intelligence of Ravenclaw. You still portray the Slytherin traits of cunning and ambition, but you have the wit of a Gryffindor. Yet, you hide your intelligence with the cunning of only a Slytherin.'_

'_So what's your conclusion?'_

'_You still belong in Slytherin Theodore Nott, however not so much as you did at 11 years of age.'_

Theo pulled the hat off and said slowly, 'that…actually wasn't too bad.'

'Yeah? What did it say?' Draco asked anxiously, he was now the only member of the group not to put the hat on yet.

'That I have some other traits, like Gryffindor courage, but that I'm still very much a Slytherin,' Theo said simply, leaving out what the hat had said about Ravenclaw. Although he was fairly certain most of his friends knew he was intelligent underneath the playful, dumb mask.

'That's fair,' Harry said as he took the hat from Theo and held it out to the last member, 'come on Draco, everyone else has done it.'

Draco merely glared at the hat, and Hermione jumped in, placing her hand on his arm, 'I know you're worried about what it will tell you, but you don't have to tell anyone what it says if you don't want too.'

Similar to Theo, Draco didn't listen to many people, but Hermione was one of the few people that he did listen too. So with a deep sigh he reluctantly and slowly placed the hat on his head.

'_Interesting! Draco Malfoy…an ambitious, cunning, proud young 11 year old boy as I remember…'_

'_Not so proud anymore.'_

'_Yes, I see that. Hmm, yes, still cunning and ambitious however, still portraying many Slytherin traits…'_

'_Anything else?'_

'_I see some courage, and very much the wit of Gryffindor, yes very much so. I sense intelligence, so much so Ravenclaw would have been a good home to you…'_

'_So am I still a Slytherin?'_

'_A hybrid I think Draco Malfoy. Yes, a hybrid between the houses of Slytherin, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.'_

'_Gryffindor? That's not right.'_

'_I am never wrong Draco Malfoy. You may not believe now that you possess the traits of a Gryffindor, but one day you shall.'_

'_Uh, well thanks…I guess.'_

Draco looked around unhappily at the others who were waiting expectantly, 'well it's obviously senile or something.'

Neville grinned in amusement, 'It told you that you would be good in Gryffindor, didn't it?'

'Not quite,' Draco replied as he handed the hat back to Harry, 'it said I had the courage of a Gryffindor, and the wit.'

'Yeah, it _must _be senile,' Daphne joked with a grin as Harry put the hat back on its perch.

Draco gave a weak smile that nobody really believed but it was brushed over when Harry suggested that they head back to the common room, they had sneaked and had their fun for the night after all. Hermione took the charm off of the paintings and they quietly slipped from the wrong into the empty corridor outside.

Not much was said on the way back because they didn't want to be caught by anyone, alive or dead, who may have been patrolling the corridors.

When they got back to the common room everyone was tired so they said goodbye for the night and separated to their dormitories.

It wasn't until they were both lying in bed that Harry spoke to Draco, 'Hey, Draco?'

'Yeah?' Draco replied as he drew back the curtain divider between their halves of the room so he could glance over at Harry.

'I don't think the hat is senile. I think in some sense you would have done well in Gryffindor,' Harry said sincerely.

Draco had a far off look in his eyes as he said, 'If the circumstances had been different…maybe I would have been.'

'I know the hat is right, about me belonging somewhere between Gryffindor and Slytherin,' Harry admitted, 'after all, we all have dark and light within us, the side we choose to act on is what defines things like our house or personality.'

'We're almost opposite ends of the same spectrum,' Draco mused and Harry nodded in agreement at this.

'I'm glad regardless, that we became friends this year,' Harry said, trying not to sound too cheesy.

Draco chuckled, 'Yeah, me too. I would never have admitted it but I really wanted you to take my hand that day… I didn't just try to befriend you because of your fame.'

'I'm sorry it took me 8 years,' Harry joked and Draco laughed but said on a more serious note, 'I'm sorry too.'

Harry nodded as his acceptance of this apology, 'It's all in the past now. Are you nervous, about tomorrow?'

'I'm terrified,' Draco admitted and Harry was surprised at his honesty.

'Me too, but it makes me feel better knowing we're doing it together,' Harry said with a smile towards Draco.

He smiled weakly back and nodded, 'Goodnight Harry.'

'Goodnight Draco.'

**To be Continued. **

**_A/N: Sorry for the long time between updates, I had my final exams and then I moved house only to find the internet cables were out of date so I was without internet for THREE WEEKS, it was dreadful, I don't know how I survived! BUT this chap is now here and another is on the way (I have already written it!). Thats the good news...the bad news...well, I've lost a bit of love for this story and I'm trying to publish my own novel at the moment so I'm focusing on that which means this story will finish very soon. There will be 65 chapters in total, but I'll leave it with the hope of a sequel series about the gang in jobs and life. I may or may not write it, but either way I'm ending the story for the moment. _  
><strong>

**_I've a couple more fanfics I'm working on slowly that will pop up here at some point and I'm also working on finishing Letter to Me, The War is Over and Eyes Open!_**

**_Thanks for reading!_**


	63. Graduation

**The 8th Year**

**Chapter 63 - Graduation**

The 8th Year common room was quiet that next Sunday morning.

It was packed with every single student sitting or standing around waiting until 6am when the Great Hall would be open for breakfast, but nobody was speaking.

They looked a sight, all wearing their best black robes, their black wizard's hats stuffed in their pockets. Some people were twiddling their thumbs nervously, others were polishing their shoes, or playing with their hair. Everyone was anxious, and most people were sad.

Today was the day they said goodbye to Hogwarts.

'Doesn't seem real, does it?' Neville asked Harry from where they were leaning against the wall together, both looking out of the window at the mountains beyond.

'Nah,' Harry said distantly, 'I never really thought about the day I'd leave this place. It's always been my home.'

'At least you have somewhere to call home now,' Neville said, glancing over at Harry, 'imagine if you'd had to go back to Privet Drive.'

'I don't really want to imagine it,' Harry admitted grimly.

'Is your Aunt still coming today?' Neville asked as he leant against the windowsill.

Harry nodded thoughtfully, 'Yeah, Dudley couldn't, he has his exams at the moment, but Aunt Petunia is coming, and so is Andromeda.'

'I thought Draco had invited her?'

'He did,' Harry said, glancing around quickly to see where Draco was. He was sitting with Theo and Hermione at the other end of the common room. Harry turned back to Neville and whispered, 'he invited her because he didn't think his Father would make it, but I pulled some strings to get him out of Muggle prison for a couple of hours.'

'Do you think he'll take that okay?' Neville asked in a whisper.

Harry shrugged and glanced over to Draco who was stroking Hermione's hair, 'A year ago if I did something like this I think he'd hate me for it, but now I think he'll thank me,' Harry said honestly.

'It's weird,' Neville said with a sigh, 'how much can change in a year.'

'Tell me about it,' Harry said, a pang of pain shooting through him, 'it kills me to think we're graduating without Ron.'

Neville smiled slightly, but Harry didn't catch this, he was too busy staring out of the window.

'We're graduating minus a lot of people that should be here,' Neville said, his smile gone and a haunted look on his face, 'Gryffindor was fairly lucky but Dean…'

Harry nodded, understanding Neville before he had to finish that sentence, 'I don't realise how bad it is sometimes, but last night I couldn't help but think that there should have been 42 students from our year graduating today.'

'Wow,' Neville said as the figure took him by surprise, 'and considering there are only 25 that will be graduating…'

'Exactly,' Harry said darkly, 'and I know not all of those people died but then where did we lose 17 people?'

'Well Gryffindor lost Ron, and Dean,' Neville said as a lump rose in his throat.

'And Slytherin lost Pansy and Crabbe in the final battle,' Harry said with a small frown.

'Goyle is in Azkaban,' Neville filled in, 'and Millicent Bulstrode emigrated to Australia at the start of the war.'

'How do you know that?' Harry asked in surprise. Neville just shrugged and said, 'she and Hannah got on okay.'

'Oh fair enough,' Harry said as a dark look passed across his face, 'and they lost Tracey too.'

'I think Hufflepuff lost four,' Neville said, and at that point Hannah joined in, they hadn't even realised that she had been listening.

'We did,' she said sadly, 'Leanne was killed during the war because of her blood status, and Valery hid out in America during the war and finished her schooling at Salem. Oliver died saving a little girl when the orphanage he lived in caught fire, and Wayne just did his N.E.W.T's at the Ministry, he didn't want to come back.'

'I'm sorry Hannah,' Harry said sincerely as Neville put his arm around his fiancé. They were all quiet for a bit after that, until Harry realised, 'but then that must mean that Ravenclaw lost more than any of the other houses.'

'Haven't you noticed there are only 4 of us?' Terry asked from where he was sitting in a chair behind Harry, 'well 5 if you include Melody.'

'Sorry Terry,' Harry said apologetically, 'what happened to the others?'

'Stephen died in the final battle, but you know that Harry. Kevin and Lisa both did their N.E.W.T's at the Ministry. Anthony came back but he was held back a year so he isn't graduating with us. Su was murdered in the war because her Father supported the light and spoke about it too loudly, and Morag had to learn magic from scratch, she lost her right arm in the final battle.'

'Merlin,' Harry said, shaking his head in disbelief, 'I'm sorry Terry, I had no idea how much Ravenclaw lost.'

Terry shrugged and said, 'we aren't just about brains Harry. We're loyal, we showed that in the war.'

Harry nodded and said the sincerest thank you to Terry for what his fellow Ravenclaws had done. He felt even more miserable than before now.

At that moment the clock ticked to 6am and people began to move towards the great hall where it was warmer and there was food. Although Harry doubted anyone would eat. He hung back with Neville as everyone glumly filed from the common room.

'You coming mate?' Neville asked Harry when they reached the landing outside of the common room. Everything was packed in their dorms…it would be on the Hogwarts Express later that day. This was the last time he'd see this place.

'I'll meet you there,' Harry said gruffly and Neville understood so with a silent nod he made his way down to the great hall alone.

When Harry was sure Neville was out of earshot he glanced towards the portrait opposite that of Snape. The portrait of his parents. They were all at the front of the portrait with smiles on their faces.

'Good luck today son,' James said with a proud smile. Lily had tears in her eyes as she nodded, 'we wish we could be there to see it.'

'But we'll be watching from somewhere,' Remus said with a smile, and Sirius finished with, 'and don't fall off the stage like James did.'

'I didn't _fall_ off, you pushed me!' James retorted.

'I did not,' Sirius said, 'I bumped into you slightly and you fell off!'

Harry chuckled as he watched his Father and his Godfather start to wrestle each other in the portrait. Lily and Remus looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

'Bloody Marauders,' Snape grumbled in the background.

'Well you'll get rid of them soon.' Harry said as he turned to Snape, 'I'm getting the portrait moved to my house in Grimmauld Place later on today so say your goodbyes now.'

Snape looked slightly dismayed, but sneered and said, 'goodbye? As if I want to say goodbye to them.'

'If that's what helps you sleep at night Professor,' Harry said as he turned around and smiled at the Marauders, 'I better go. See you guys soon in your new home.'

'No,' Sirius whined jokingly in the background, 'Please Harry, don't make me go back there!'

'Shut up you fool,' James said as they went back to wrestling each other.

Harry laughed and made his way down the staircase one last time.

* * *

><p>When he arrived in the great hall the scene was slightly less morbid with all of the house tables chattering away, despite the silence of the 8th year table. Combined with the fact everyone was dressed in black it looked like they were preparing for a funeral.<p>

Harry sat down at one of the few gaps in the table which happened to be in between Neville and Draco and opposite Hermione and Daphne who were both reading the Daily Prophet.

'Is anyone gonna talk?' Harry asked as he poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice, 'it's not like this is a funeral or anything.'

Draco smiled slightly, 'Feels a bit like it.'

'The death of our lives as students,' Theo said jokingly from his spot next to Draco.

'You should put that in your speech,' Neville said with a snigger.

Theo laughed loudly and said, 'I might do just that.'

Hermione looked up from the paper and glared at Theo, 'You need to be serious in your speech Theo. You're Head Boy.'

'So?' Theo asked as he rolled his eyes.

Hermione was about to respond when McGonagall appeared at the end of the table holding a stack of parchment yearbooks, 'The Yearbooks are ready,' Daphne said with excitement as McGonagall made her way around the table handing them out. It was traditional to get a yearbook on the morning of graduation but Harry had gotten so caught up in everything else that he had forgotten about it.

Draco got his first and Harry and Theo peered curiously at it. The front cover was simple, it had _'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'_ stamped on it with the school logo underneath and then _'Class of 1998/99'_ and underneath that his name, _'Draco Black'_. There were then the four logos of each house in each corner of the parchment.

Harry's yearbook was then dropped in front of him and he eagerly opened it up to read the message from McGonagall on the front page.

'_The staff of Hogwarts, myself included, are very sad to see you all go this year. _

_This year group, more so than almost any other, have weathered countless storms together and have already achieved much to be proud of. _

_Some of you fought in the war between light and dark, others have fought wars just as difficult inside of themselves. Most of you have lost loved ones, some of you have even lost family, and parents, something which no child or teenager should ever have to live through._

_What I find extraordinary about each and every one of you however, is not how many battles you have won, but how strong you are, and more importantly, how united you are._

_I will miss every single student that returned for the first ever 'Eighth Year', but I am sure that I will see you all again one day, whether as a teacher here at Hogwarts, or in the Daily Prophet. For I know you will all be successful in whatever you chose to do._

_The war may be over, but the hardest battle is still to come, life. My best wishes are with you, and remember, help will always be given to those who ask for it. Always feel free to send me an owl._

_Good luck'_

At the bottom of this rather moving speech was McGonagall's signature, Harry smiled as he flicked over to the next page, it was a lovely little message, and he supposed her graduation speech would be similar.

The next page featured a moving picture of the Head Boy and Girl with their names underneath. Then there were pictures of the Prefects who had been in 8th year with their names underneath (Parvati, Terry, Hannah and Ernie). At the bottom of the page were the Quidditch captains again with their names underneath. All of the pictures on the page moved and Harry smirked at the action shot of him in the Quidditch Captains section.

The next page featured pictures and names of all of the Gryffindor students, and Harry was pleased to see that Dean and Ron were both in the yearbook. Harry had known that Ron would be because a few weeks ago they had written out little profiles for their friends which would feature in the yearbook, and Harry had helped to write Ron's. At the top of the page the word _'Gryffindor'_ was written in scarlet ink with some facts next to it. The first two were standard, _'Founder: Godric Gryffindor'_ and '_Head: Minerva McGonagall'_. However the third fact made Harry chuckle, it said_, 'Year: 1991-1999 (with some taking a 'gap year' in 98)'_, it was hardly a gap year but then the way McGonagall had described it made it funny and it was hard to make anything about the war seem funny.

Harry glanced at the pictures, he looked rather cocky in his, and more like his Father than he ever had done. Hermione looked more confident than Harry could ever remember, and so did Neville. He smiled as he looked through the pictures, Tessie and Isabelle of course had treated the shoot for the yearbook pictures as if it was a real modelling shoot which made Harry roll his eyes.

Harry smiled as he turned the page to see that this was the 'profiles' page for all of the Gryffindor students. There was a small box for each student with a little note about them that had been written by their friends. He read them all quickly and was surprised by how many he had contributed too, it hadn't felt like that many at the time.

'_Lavender Brown: One of the kindest people, a true Gryffindor who could have been a Hufflepuff – Hermione Granger. Fought as bravely as anyone else in the Battle of Hogwarts and deserves all the happiness I know she'll get – Harry Potter.'_

'_Isabelle Chambers: The most beautiful person in Hogwarts, she's super cool and she's going to be fantastic at whatever she does. Love her so much – Tessie Pritchard', _Harry found himself sniggering slightly at this one, he glanced over at Neville who was doing something similar.

'_Seamus Finnigan: Seamus is one of the bravest people I know, he was never scared in the war and he used everything he could to his advantage. He's mad and he's Irish, but he'll be fine as long as he finds a job involving explosives – Neville Longbottom.'_

'_Hermione Jean Granger: A beautiful person, inside and out, but don't take her camping! – Daphne Greengrass,' _Harry laughed out loud at this and glanced over to where Daphne and Hermione were giggling, 'you do realise hardly anyone will understand what that means?' he asked with a chuckle.

'Thank Merlin,' Hermione muttered, making Daphne laugh louder, she shrugged, 'I just couldn't resist,' she admitted with a cheeky grin. Harry laughed again and looked back once more to Hermione's profile.

'_Her knowledge is only matched by her love of house-elves, long live spew – Harry Potter,' _Hermione glared mockingly at Harry for this and said, 'you spelt it wrong, its S.P.E.W.'

'I know,' Harry grinned, 'I did it on purpose.'

Hermione chuckled, and Harry smiled, he had a feeling this yearbook would be full of inside jokes.

'_She saved me – Draco Black.'_

'_Neville Longbottom: Snake beheading, cardigan wearing, authority defying badass whose going to be my Auror partner – Harry Potter. Fatbottom, P.S. please be my Auror partner – Draco Black. We all know he'll be mine – Theodore Nott.'_

Neville was laughing hard as he read his entry, 'sorry guys,' he said to Draco and Theo, 'but in this case I'm Harry's.'

This made Harry snigger, and Hannah shake her head in amusement.

'_Parvati Patil: The best sister anyone could wish for. I know she will be happy in Norway with her future Husband. I'll miss you, but good luck sis – Padma Patil.'_

'_Harry James Potter: The bravest man I know (sorry Draco) – Hermione Granger.'_

'Oi!' Draco said as glared across the table at Hermione, 'I resent that.'

'Well you are a coward Draco,' Theo pointed out casually which made Draco smack him over the back of the head. Theo merely sniggered and said, 'you didn't deny it.'

'And Harry is the savior of the wizarding world,' Daphne pointed out with a smirk.

Hermione smiled slightly at Draco's pout, 'Calm down Draco, you haven't gotten to what I wrote in your entry yet.'

Harry smiled his thanks at Hermione and glanced back to his profile.

'_He gives people second chances, thank you Harry – Draco Black. Scarhead – Theodore Nott. Hate his hero complex, love him – Daphne Greengrass.'_

'Gee thanks Daph,' Harry joked as Daphne smirked at him, 'and really Theo? Is that all you could think of to write in my yearbook?'

'Pretty much,' Theo said in that same casual non-pulsed tone.

'_Tessie Pritchard: Such a lovely person, she's so sweet, kind and loyal. I'm sure she'll be great at whatever she can do – Isabelle Chambers.'_

'_Ronald Bilius Weasley: I couldn't have, and wouldn't have, gotten through the war without him. Thanks Ron, for coming back –Harry Potter. A good man doesn't falter, a great man can pick himself up after he does. I wouldn't be alive today without him, thank you for keeping me going when all I wanted to do was stop – Hermione Granger.'_

Harry and Hermione caught each other's eyes across the table and both smiled, they had both done Ron justice in the yearbook, despite how rocky this year had been on their friendship.

Harry flicked the page, disappointed that Dean didn't have a profile, he only had a picture, but then that was better than nothing.

Next was Hufflepuff, there were only 6 pictures on the page, each with the name underneath and the founder, head of house, and year at the top of the page. On the next page were the Hufflepuff profiles, some of which were amusing.

'_Hannah Abbott: Such a gentle, sweet person who I know will make a fantastic Healer. I know she and Neville will be happy – Sadie Cauldwell. The greatest friend anyone could wish for. She had the strength to forgive things that should never be forgiven, and she will always be my sister in every way but blood – Susan Bones.'_

'_Susan Bones: A bubbly, enthusiastic, crazy friend! She makes mistakes but she never tries to hide them and for that I respect her. Always my sister from another mister! – Hannah Abbott. One of the people who got me through the summer after the war. Without her strength I'd never have lived through that summer – Harry Potter. A girl who's never had it easy in life, but has become an amazing person. I wish her so much happiness – Daphne Greengrass.'_

'_Justin Finch-Fletchley: Somebody who portrays every good trait of Hufflepuff. He's fiercely loyal, and works harder than anyone I know. Throughout everything we've gone through together since starting Hogwarts Justin has remained strong and I'll never stop respecting him for that –Ernie MacMillan.'_

'_Megan Jones: When people see Megan they see a Welsh blonde girl and immediately underestimate her. She's smart, funny and incredibly witty. Good luck! – Mandy Brocklehurst.'_

'_Ernest MacMillan: Always determined to do the right thing and doesn't let anyone get in his way. He fought in the war and risked his life to help those less fortunate than himself. He's wicked smart and he's going to be the greatest lawyer of his age – Justin Finch-Fletchley.'_

'_Zacharias Smith: He doesn't understand sarcasm. He's intelligent, funny, a great person to be around, and everybody loves him. Like I said he doesn't get sarcasm so he'll probably think this is all true – Theodore Nott (Head Boy; as the rule states when nobody else wishes to submit an entry…says it all really!)_

Harry sniggered at the final profile and was amused to see Zacharias giving Theo death glares down the table. Harry flicked the page to the 5 Ravenclaw pictures and names with the founder, head of house and year at the top again. On the next page were the Ravenclaw profiles. These was the only house profiles that Harry hadn't contributed to in some way. He didn't really know any of the Ravenclaws well enough.

'_Terry Boot: Awesome seeker, have always had so much fun playing Quidditch with him. He kept us all going through the war, and saved so many innocent lives – Michael Corner.'_

'_Mandy Brocklehurst: Really sweet and a lovely friend. She's so smart and she never says no when somebody needs help with their homework. She's going to be one of the smartest Witches of her age – Megan Jones.'_

'_Michael Corner: Sunday Quidditch and pizza sessions won't stop! Wish him the best of luck with his Quidditch career because he was an amazing captain and he's one of the best beaters I've ever seen – Terry Boot.'_

'_Melody Norris-Filch: I'm so glad she got this chance to live her life on her own terms! – Hermione Granger. A funny, intelligent girl who has the best taste in vintage fashion! So happy for her! Good luck and enjoy your life with Roy! – Susan Bones.'_

'_Padma Patil: A beautiful and talented sister. She's definitely the better half of our pairing. So happy for her getting into the elite Salem programme! I'm going to miss you so much, but enjoy America! – Parvati Patil.'_

It was pretty standard really, but Harry hadn't realised that Melody and Susan were close. Harry flicked over and grinned when he realised that he was now at the Slytherin section. He smirked as he looked at the pictures, Draco looked handsome and confident. Sadie looked quietly gorgeous, the picture of Tracey panged slightly, and Gabrielle looked like she was trying to be on the cover of Witch Weekly. Daphne was winking and posing in her photo which was befitting, and Theo was attempting to pose and look sexy in his. Blaise just looked the way he always did, grumpy, but then again Harry was surprised that he was even there.

Harry flicked the page to the profiles, he had contributed to a few of them.

'_Draco Abraxas Black: Since this is my last chance to say it, Draco, I love you, ditch Hermione and we can run away and elope! – Theodore Nott.'_

Draco was chuckling as he shook his head at his best friend, 'Nah mate, I'll stick with Hermione,' he said, Theo pretended to be outraged at this.

'_Everyone deserves a second chance, and I'm glad I gave Draco one – Harry Potter.'_

'Thanks Harry,' Draco said quietly to his friend, Harry merely nodded and smiled, 'don't worry about it.'

'_The ferret done good – Neville Longbottom.'_

'Fatbottom!' Draco growled as he threw a bit of toast at Neville which he dodged, 'hey! You wrote fatbottom on mine!' Neville retorted.

'You're never going to live that one down ferret boy,' Hermione teased at which her boyfriend glared at her.

'_Everyone has their demons, some of us can fight them, Draco did – Daphne Greengrass.'_

'Thanks Daph,' Draco said with a real smile at his friend.

'Just the truth Draco,' Daphne said honestly.

'_Everyone can change, I'm glad that Draco did – Hermione Granger.'_

Draco got the biggest smile yet at this and leant across the table to kiss her on the cheek, 'Thank you,' he said, looking quite emotional and blushing.

'Aw Draco, are you getting emotional?' Harry teased, which made Draco's cheeks even pinker.

'He didn't get emotional over me!' Theo retorted in mock anger. Sadie and Hermione caught each other's eyes and rolled them. It reminded Harry of what Lily and Remus had done when James and Sirius had started fighting, and he smiled as he looked back to the yearbook page.

'_Sadie Cauldwell: When I first met her I thought she was quiet and shy, and then I got to know her! Sadie is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. We lost someone special and without Sadie I wouldn't have gotten through the aftermath. Don't ever hurt her Theo – Daphne Greengrass.'_

In one of his rare moments of seriousness Theo wrapped his arm around Sadie and looked Daphne straight in the eye as he said, 'I promise I won't.'

Daphne, and everyone else who had witnessed the scene were slightly taken aback by this. It didn't surprise Harry however, Theo was like his Godfather, the joking around was just a mask, he could be serious when he needed, or wanted to be.

'_Thank Merlin for house unity, without it I'd never have made such an amazing friend. I wish I'd known her since first year – Hannah Abbott.'_

'_Gabrielle Delacour: A girl whose very determined that she will always get what she wants, a good trait as long as she realises that it's not always possible. Her sister is lovely and kind and I hope she becomes like her – Hermione Granger (Head Girl; as the rule states when nobody else wishes to submit an entry)'._

'_Daphne Greengrass: It might have taken me 7 years, but I eventually found a female friend who wanted to know me. I wish I had known her for longer, but I know we'll be friends as long as we live – Hermione Granger.'_

'How can we not be friends?' Daphne asked Hermione with a chuckle, 'after all those two are practically inseparable,' she said as she pointed to Harry and Draco who smirked in unison.

'Very true,' Hermione chuckled.

'_She taught me some of the most important lessons in life – Susan Bones.'_

At this Daphne winked along the table at Susan who chuckled and nodded in understanding.

'_She's been there for me through everything, without her I wouldn't be alive today. I love her to death – Sadie Cauldwell'._

'Aw Sadie, that's so sweet,' Daphne said with a watery smile as she got to her feet and hugged her best friend.

'Just the truth Daph,' Sadie said with a sheepish smile.

'_She saved me from myself and taught me how to have fun again – Harry Potter.'_

'So cheesy Potter,' Daphne teased but Harry smiled, 'I don't care,' he said honestly, and he truly didn't, his hand clasped the velvet box in his pocket tightly as he looked at his girlfriend. She frowned slightly, seeing something in his eyes she didn't understand and looked back to the yearbook.

'_Theodore Roosevelt Nott: He was there for me throughout everything, and without his strength and courage I'd never have survived the war. Thank you for keeping me going, and I'm glad you're so happy – Draco Black.'_

'Draco, you do care!'

The table erupted in laughter as Draco and Theo had a 'manly' bromance hug.

'_The only person who's more of a skinny runt than me – Harry Potter.'_

'Oi Potter! I'm not a skinny runt!'

'You kind of are though.'

'I am not!'

'Well you aren't exactly a macho man are you?'

'Whose side are you lot on?'

'_He saved me (sorry Draco and Harry, had to be done) – Neville Longbottom.'_

This caused another wave of laughter and another bromantic hug.

'_Man whore (well done Sadie) – Blaise Zabini.'_

'Ah Blaise, a man of very little words,' Theo said sarcastically, shaking his head in amusement at his friends comment.

'_Blaise Zabini: A good friend throughout even the toughest times at Hogwarts when I needed someone with a brain he was always there, but he's the hardest person in the world to find! You'll be a good Unspeakable mate! -Draco Black. He's practically invisible and I'm pretty sure he can walk through walls. He isn't around much because that's just Blaise for you, but he's always been there when it's important and when it matters – Theodore Nott.'_

Harry glanced up to see Blaise's reaction and frowned when he didn't see him anywhere, 'Where _is _Blaise?'

'Doesn't that just prove our point?' Draco asked Theo as the two friends chuckled together about Blaise's absence. Harry wondered if he had an invisibility cloak.

Harry grinned as he flipped the page to what was now the Quidditch section. This page featured the Gryffindor Quidditch team with the words 'Winners of the 1999 Quidditch Cup'. There was a picture of the team holding the cup and then individual pictures of the team members with their position and name underneath. Harry was there as Captain and Seeker, then Colin was there as Keeper and Dennis as a Chaser. The other Chasers were Ginny and Natalie McDonald. Neville and Seamus were the Beaters, although there was a mention to Dean who had been the Beater until his death.

The next page was of the runners up, the Slytherin Quidditch team. There was a picture of the team as a whole, and then Draco as the Captain and seeker, Daphne, Sadie and Gabrielle as the Chasers, again there was a mention of Tracey as the original Chaser. There was also a photo of Blaise and Theo as Beaters and the 7th year Maxwell as the Keeper.

Next was the Hufflepuff team. With Justin as Captain and a Chaser, then Megan and Mason as the other Chasers, and Hannah and Susan as the Beaters. Then there was Ernie as the Seeker and Zacharias as the Keeper.

Ravenclaw were last. With Michael as the Captain and Beater, although the job had been shared with Terry towards the end of the year. Mandy, Padma and Luna were there as the Chasers, as was Anthony Goldstein as the other beater. Terry was there as Seeker and Paul Clearwater as Keeper.

The next page surprised Harry, he hadn't expected anything like this to be in the yearbook. The page had the words _'Dumbledore's Army'_ in large letters at the top. Next to this were two small sentences.

'_Years Active: 1995-1998'._

'_Teacher: 'Professor' Harry James Potter.'_

Harry chuckled at McGonagall's sense of humor, there was a quote too underneath these facts, _'It is important to fight and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay though never quite eradicated.'_

The rest of the page consisted of pictures of each member that was in 8th year with their name underneath. Harry smiled, there were 16 people on that list. Ron wasn't here, and Dean was gone, but the rest would all be graduating together today and that made Harry proud.

'That's a lovely addition to the yearbook,' Hermione said as she looked at the page, Harry nodded, quite lost for words at the fact it had made it into the yearbook.

Harry then turned the page and smiled as he realised that it was the prom page. The words '1999 Prom' were emblazoned at the top of the page and the rest was filled with photographs. In the middle of the page was a photo of Harry, Draco, Neville and Theo all standing together smiling in their best dress robes. There was a picture of Draco and Neville hugging, and one of Draco and Harry laughing at something, then one of Draco and Hermione dancing, and another of them kissing. There was a picture of Harry and Daphne dancing, and one of Harry and Hermione dancing too. There was also a picture of Neville and Hannah smiling at the camera, and a couple of pictures of Sadie and Theo.

'That was definitely a night to remember,' Harry said fondly as he caught Daphne's eye, he had very fond memories of the prom.

The next page in the yearbook was a summary of the awards Hermione and Theo had given out at Prom, Harry chuckled as he scanned through them once more. On the following page were 15 baby photos with the words at the top, _'Guess who the baby Witch or Wizard became.'_

Harry cringed as he realised a baby picture of himself was there, he didn't look too strange in it, but he knew Hermione at least would be able to tell.

'Harry, is that you?' Daphne asked in shock, Harry blushed slightly and Hermione chuckled, 'Yeah that's him.'

'Aw you were so cute then Harry,' Susan said as she looked on, 'what happened?'

Harry laughed at this and tried to see if he knew any of them, 'Is that you Mione?' Harry asked as he saw a toddler with mouse ears on her head smiling at the camera.

Hermione blushed and nodded, 'I think I was about 1 or 2 in that picture,' she said.

'And look, little baby Draco!' Theo teased, pointing at a picture of a cute little blonde haired baby boy.

'Oh shut up, look at you,' Draco said as he sniggered at the baby Theo who was looking very surprised and wearing what looked to be a very posh blue cashmere cardigan.

'Nice cardigan Theo,' Sadie teased, his cheeks flushed and he said, 'and I can't insult you because look how cute you were,' he said as he pointed to a picture of a little blonde haired girl wearing pigtails who looked as if she was trying to eat her finger.

'I was not cute,' Sadie objected, 'I was a fat baby, look at my face.'

'You were not,' Daphne said as she glared at her photo, 'mine is horrible, I've got such a chubby face.'

'Is that you?' Harry asked looking at the photo she had pointed at which was of a girl with pure blonde hair and bright blue eyes pouting and wearing a sunhat, 'aw, your cute Daph.'

'Ugh, yeah right,' Daphne said, objecting just as Sadie had done.

'Oh Hannah, is that you?' Susan asked as she looked at a picture of a young blonde girl. Hannah's cheeks flushed, 'yeah, it's a horrible picture though!'

The picture was of her holding an ice cream that was melting and covering her hands, she had a round face and long pure blonde hair.

'Aw you're such a little blondie!' Daphne cooed, Hannah's hair was a much darker blonde now.

'More like a little fatty,' Hannah chuckled, 'I had such a round face.'

'You did not,' Neville said, and then he was cornered.

'Wait, you must be in there Nev,' Draco said as he glanced down to the yearbook, 'is that you?'

Neville rolled his eyes, 'Yep that's me, the kid with the fat face and buckteeth.'

The others chuckled and Hannah patted her boyfriend on the shoulder, 'don't worry Nev, I still think you look cute.'

Neville chuckled, 'so who haven't we found yet?' he asked as he glanced around at his friends, 'Susan, where are you?'

'The only ginger kid there,' Susan said as she pointed to a picture at the bottom of the screen of a toddler with short curly red hair and lots of freckles smiling very broadly.

'Aw so cute and innocent,' Harry said with a smirk, 'what happened?'

'Shut up Potter,' Susan said with a chuckle, 'I was such an ugly baby.'

'You're quite cute actually, for a ginger baby,' Hannah teased, laughing as Susan threw a bit of bacon at her which she dodged deftly, the perks of being a beater.

'We all know who that is,' Lavender muttered under her breath as she pointed to a picture of a brown haired girl who looked like she was wearing make-up, she looked about 4 or 5 and was sipping on a cup of tea.

Hermione chucked and said, 'Little Princess Isabelle of course.'

Lavender sniggered at this and Hermione asked, 'are you there Lavender?'

'No,' Lavender lied, but Hermione saw through it, she frowned and looked back to the page, 'yes you are, that's you isn't it?'

She pointed to a cute little brown-haired girl who looked about 3 years old, Lavender reluctantly nodded. They figured that the others were a young Ron, a baby Ernie, a baby Zacharias (who was wearing a miniature suit which gave everyone a laugh) and a baby Blaise who was actually laughing, probably the only picture of him doing so.

The next page was probably the most emotional because the title was, _'The Fallen – those who died before the school year began'. _

There were pictures of those who had not made it, and underneath the picture was their name and cause of death. There were 10 pictures on the page in total, 6 students, and 4 Professors.

'_Stephen Cornfoot: 1980-1998 – Died in the Battle of Hogwarts.'_

'_Vincent Crabbe: 1980-1998 – Died in the Battle of Hogwarts.'_

'_Leanne Fox: 1980-1997 – Murdered due to blood status.'_

'_Su Li: 1980-1997 – Murdered due to political issues.'_

'_Pansy Parkinson: 1980-1998 – Died in the Battle of Hogwarts.'_

'_Oliver Rivers: 1980-1997 – Died saving orphans from a Death Eater attack.'_

'_Charity Burbage: 1965-1997 – Murdered for pro-Muggle views.'_

'_Albus Dumbledore: 1881-1997 – Died in the Battle of the Lightning Struck Tower.'_

'_Remus Lupin: 1960-1998 – Died in the Battle of Hogwarts.'_

'_Severus Snape: 1960-1998 – Murdered for aiding the side of the light in the war.'_

At the bottom of this page was a quote, _'The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living – Marcus Tullius Cicero.'_

This page caused a fair amount of emotion and sadness at the table, but the last page was more light and promising. It was blank with space for signatures which they would do after the Graduation ceremony, either on the Hogwarts Express or at any after parties.

This thought jogged Harry's memory, 'I'm having a post-Graduation party tonight,' he said to those in his vicinity, 'everyone in our year is invited, just pass the word around the table. It's at my house, they should know how to get there because of the New Year's party.'

'Nice, I was hoping you would,' Draco said with a grin as he passed the message along his side of the table, Neville did the same in the other direction and Daphne and Hermione did the same on the other side of the table.

With the excitement of the yearbook wearing off Hermione went back to reading the paper, but it didn't take long for her to speak up again.

'Oh my gosh!' Hermione exclaimed, 'Harry, the part of London your house is in was hit by a dreadful storm!'

'Was it?' Harry asked in shock, this was genuine at first because he had forgotten all about the second stage of he and Neville's plan.

Hermione nodded and continued, 'the bones and relics they found in your street were all blown away, all traces were completely wiped.'

'Oh, that's weird,' Harry said with a smirk in the general direction of Neville who grinned.

'At least the houses seem to be okay,' Hermione said, shaking her head and going back to her paper. Daphne however narrowed her eyes, she had seen this exchange between Harry and Neville, and she had also seen the smirk on Draco's face. She wasn't going to mention anything now, but she would later.

All of the time they had spent reading through the yearbook had passed so much time that breakfast (which was shorter than usual today anyway) was coming to an end and everyone was leaving the hall as it would be converted for graduation.

'Time to wait in the entrance hall for an hour,' Daphne said with a slightly nervous sigh as the 8th years filed out of the hall to where a small waiting area was set up.

'It won't be that long,' Hermione assured her friend, although she was more nervous than a lot of the others because she had her Head Girl speech to deliver.

* * *

><p>The large oak doors to the great hall creaked open and Harry swallowed a lump in his throat. They seemed to take forever to open and a wave of déjà vu rushed over Harry when they finally did.<p>

McGonagall stood with her pointed hat, and green robes, a tight smile on her face, 'Are you ready?' she asked the group of students.

It took Harry back to his first moments in Hogwarts and he smiled fondly. There were some stiff nods and nervous 'yes's' and then McGonagall led the students into the hall which had been completely transformed.

There was a long stage at the end of the hall where the Head table normally was, and all of the house tables were pushed up against the walls. Instead there were rows of benches with a walkway clear in the middle of the room. It looked eerily similar to Cedric's memorial.

McGonagall led them all to a row of seats at the front of the stage. This was the part that took time, they had only actually been waiting outside for around half an hour.

The next little while was spent getting everyone seated in the right order. It was alphabetical, with the person whose second name was first at the far left hand side of the stage and the person whose second name was last at the far right side. This was so they could walk onto the stage, accept their certificate and exit the stage at the other side and sit down at the end of the row with everyone moving up a seat every time someone got up to accept their certificate.

Over half an hour later everyone was seated with a shaky, pale Hannah up first and a stout, but present Blaise on last. Draco was up second which made Harry smirk and think to himself that this was probably one of the few times he wished he was still a Malfoy.

There was one empty seat in the line which was near the end between Zacharias and Blaise which perplexed Harry, but he didn't have to wonder about it for long because a few moments later none other than Ron Weasley walked through the door wearing black robes and his black wizards hat. The others had all been forced to put theirs on by now. Harry grinned when he saw Ron walking in, he was being allowed to graduate, he must have passed all of his N.E.W.T's at the Ministry then.

Ron had a brief word with McGonagall that nobody could hear and shook her hand then made his way to his seat via Harry.

'Alright mate?'

'Hey,' Harry said, still in shock, 'I'm glad you're here.'

'Glad to be here,' Ron said with a grin, 'McGonagall let me come back and graduate.'

'I'm glad,' Harry said, still grinning like an idiot, 'I'm having a post-Graduation party tonight,' he added, 'at Grimmauld place, come round if you like.'

'I might come round for a bit if Katie's okay with it,' Ron said with a smile, 'I'll see you later.'

'See you later mate,' Harry said as Ron made his way towards his seat.

After that the guests began to arrive. There weren't any assigned seats so those who arrived first got the best ones. Molly and Arthur were among the first to arrive, and Daphne's Mother Lareina with her sister Astoria also arrived early. Hannah's parents arrived early too, as did Theo's step-mother and his half-sister Lacey who waved excitedly at her half-brother when they sat down in the front row. Harry smiled at his Aunt Petunia as she walked into the hall with Andromeda who was holding Teddy in her arms, he could walk now, he was over a year old.

He waved at them as they sat down in the front row, they both smiled at him, he felt sorry for his Aunt Petunia as she tried to take it all in. She obviously hadn't been at her sister's graduation.

Not long after, Frank and Alice Longbottom entered the hall and sat down in the front row, then shortly after Mr. and Mrs. Granger entered the hall and sat in the last few seats in the front row.

The hall filled up quickly after that, with some of the guests being amusing to watch. It was funny when Filch and Lockhart walked into the room awkwardly together and sat down in the second room, Melody looked like she couldn't decide if she was more embarrassed or amused. The Delacour's looked very over-dressed and out of place when they entered, they didn't have as great an idea of how to fit in as Fleur did. Blaise's Mother tried to chat up at least three men on her way to her seat, Blaise shook his head at first but then ended up with his head in his hands amongst some chuckling from his fellow students.

Sadie's Mother and Auror brother Sorenson arrived and waved to Sadie as they sat down. She was one of the paler, more nervous people in the line. In fact she looked like she might throw up. Almost everyone had arrived, but there was still no sign of Draco's parents, although he only thought that his Mother was coming. There was no one here for Susan either, but Harry had noticed that Molly and Arthur were saving a seat in the front row.

There were 10 minutes until the start of the ceremony when Narcissa walked into the hall and smiled proudly at her son as she sat down in the seat her sister had saved her in the front row. Draco could only manage a weak smile back at his Mother.

The time ticked by until there were only 5 minutes left until the start of the ceremony when somebody else walked through the doors. None other than Lucius Malfoy, he was out of his orange prison jumpsuit just for the occasion but had a sinister looking man with him.

Draco gaped in surprise as his Father and his guard sat down near the back of the hall. He gave Draco a smile and nodded in Harry's direction.

Draco glanced along the row at Harry and mouthed, 'thank you.'

Harry only smiled in response. He glanced along the row at Susan who looked pale with nerves but also sadness. There were only a couple of minutes now until the ceremony would start.

The teachers all took their places sitting down on the stage, apart from McGonagall whose job it was to shut the doors before they could start. She had just gripped the door to push it shut when a final guest walked into the hall.

Susan's eyes lit up when she saw Percy exchange a few words with McGonagall and stride down the walkway to the seat his parents were saving him in the front row. He grinned at Susan as he walked towards her and winked at her once he had taken his seat. She knew he was out of the country and hadn't expected him to be able to make it, so it meant a lot to Susan to see him there. She grinned back, suddenly looking a lot less nervous.

McGonagall then pushed the doors shut and strolled down the walkway and up the stairs onto the stage. She took a deep breath and began to deliver her opening speech. The ceremony had begun.

'Hogwarts first ever 'Eighth Year' are a mismatched group of students,' McGonagall began, amongst much chuckling, 'and Merlin knows they have been difficult,' she added which caused more chuckling.

'However this year group are incredibly gifted, and incredibly strong,' McGonagall said on a more serious note, 'I myself am very proud of this year group. To talk in more detail about this is Hermione Granger, the Head Girl.'

McGonagall stepped away from the podium and sat down in her seat on the stage. Hermione shakily made her way to the stage, getting an encouraging smile from Draco on her way. When she reached the podium she took a breath and began.

'I always wanted to be Head Girl and I thought about how I would give this speech a lot for a long time,' Hermione admitted slightly sheepishly, 'but I realised when I started writing it out that it isn't the kind of thing you can plan. Hogwarts has been home to all of us for the last 7 or 8 years, and leaving it will be sad for us all. It's also something more however, it's an adventure. It's the next step, and it's terrifying in some ways, thinking of leaving the safety of these walls, but it's exciting too. It's living our life on our own terms. School is just one stepping stone in our lives, and there are so many more to come, like having our own place and not having to share a dorm,' there were some nods of agreements at this from the students, Hermione smiled slightly, 'Today we look back on Hogwarts and the amazing memories I know we all have of it, but we look forward to the start of our lives as independent adults.'

As Hermione finished her speech and stepped back there was much clapping and cheering. She blushed beetroot and left the stage, happy to be back in her seat with the spotlight no longer on her.

McGonagall stepped forward once more to the podium and smiled, 'Thank you Miss. Granger,' she said as she glanced at Hermione, 'our second speech is from our Head Boy, Theodore Nott.'

Harry had no idea what this would be like as Theo got to his feet looking confident, rather than pale and nervous as Hermione had. He strolled onto the stage and took the podium. Even McGonagall looked concerned as she sat back down in her seat to watch Theo give his speech.

'Fellow Students, you all know me as the fun Head Boy who doesn't take things seriously and who likes to have a laugh,' Theo said seriously, 'and while most of the time that's me, today is different. Draco once said he didn't think I had a serious bone in my body, but I do, and if any time is a good time to show it then I think it's today. As Hermione said, today is a day to say goodbye to something we have known so well for such a long time, but today is also the start of the rest of our lives. Today we say goodbye to our friends, but that doesn't mean we're losing them, and we'll make new friends along the way too. Some of us have met that one special person, some of us are engaged and planning weddings, but then some of us will find that person along the way because that's life. You lose friends and you make them, you fall in love, you get married, you have children. Those are the stepping stones Hermione talked about, and I think I can speak for all of us when I say that Hogwarts has prepared us for everything the world is going to throw at us. On behalf of all of us I would like to thank our Teachers for giving us those skills.'

There was a stunned silence and then everyone clapped. Theo's speech had been amazing, Draco was smiling somewhat proudly, but Neville and Harry hadn't expected this and were exchanging shocked looks as they clapped Theo off of the stage.

Sadie was smiling and she looked like she was trying to hold back tears, of course she had probably seen this more serious side of Theo that was so foreign to most of the other students. Lavender had once asked Sadie why she was with someone who acted like a child all of the time. Sadie had just smiled and said that he wasn't always like that, it made sense now.

Theo grinned as he took his seat, he winked at Harry and Neville after seeing their shocked looks.

A similarly surprised McGonagall took the podium once more, 'Thank you for that moving, and uncharacteristic speech Mr. Nott,' she said with an odd sort of smile towards Theo who did a mock bow.

'Now it is time to press on with the individual certificates. For those in the audience unfamiliar with a Hogwarts graduation I shall explain what will be happening today. Each student will be awarded a certificate signed by myself as proof that they have completed their schooling, in other words, passed their N.E.W.T level exams. I can confirm now that every student has achieved this and is eligible to graduate,' McGonagall said, and there were sighs of relief amongst the students at this news, 'the student will be awarded a certificate with their Hogwarts grade level attached. As many of you may know the passing grade levels ranges from an O or Outstanding, an E or Exceeds Expectations and finally an A or Acceptable. This will be deduced for each student by their average grade in both their O.W.L exams and their N.E.W.T level exams.' She stopped to take a breath.

'The results of these exams in more detail will be given via owl within the next week,' McGonagall added with a small smile, 'so with that clear we will begin.'

Hannah looked as white as a ghost as McGonagall collected her first roll of parchment and unrolled it. She held it up for a moment and smiled, 'Miss. Hannah Abbott.'

Hannah shakily made her way to the stage where McGonagall smiled and handed over the roll of parchment, 'well done Miss. Abbott,' she said, 'an Exceeds Expectations.'

Hannah smiled, she was happy about this, it was what she had expected.

'Thank you professor,' Hannah said as she accepted the roll of parchment. McGonagall then tapped the Hufflepuff crest on her robes which returned to the Hogwarts crest as it had been before she was sorted. However the crest had a pure golden edge around it now. Hannah went along the row of professors and shook their hands and thanked them then made her way off of the stage. Everyone moved along and as she sat down next to Blaise she looked glad it was over.

'Mr. Draco Black,' McGonagall called as she held the second roll of parchment.

Draco looked pale, just as Hannah had, as he got to his feet and walked towards the stage. He kept his eyes on the floor as he climbed the steps, Harry was fairly certain he was trying not to fall. When he reached McGonagall Draco looked like he might actually throw up.

'Congratulations Mr. Black,' McGonagall said as she handed Draco the roll of parchment, 'an Outstanding.'

Draco was slightly surprised which showed a little as he accepted the parchment. His hands were actually shaking slightly. McGonagall then tapped his crest to convert it.

'Thank you Professor,' he said sincerely, he then shook the hands of all of the teachers and left the stage without falling off. He and Hannah shared a glance of relief.

'Miss. Susan Bones.'

Susan didn't look quite as nervous as the others, she seemed quietly confident as she climbed the steps to the stage and stood in front of McGonagall.

The Headmistress smiled at her and handed her the roll of parchment, 'Congratulations Miss. Bones, an Outstanding.'

McGonagall then tapped and converted Susan's Hufflepuff crest. Susan beamed, 'Thanks Professor!' she said happily as she shook her hand then did the same to all of the other teachers. She then skipped off the stage to some chuckles and sat down next to Draco. They grinned at each other and hi-fived which made Harry chuckle from where he was sitting twiddling his thumbs as he gradually got nearer the front.

Terry Boot was up next and he got an O, after him Mandy Brocklehurst made her way up to the stage where she too was awarded an O. After all they were both Ravenclaws.

'Miss. Lavender Brown.'

Lavender got up, looking quite pale and for a second instinctively put her hand on her stomach. It was such a miniscule movement not many people noticed it bar a few people in the front row who clearly already knew, Lavenders parents and Blaise's Mother.

McGonagall obviously knew too from the smile she gave Lavender when she approached her. She held out the roll of parchment to Lavender who took it shakily.

'A very warm congratulations Miss. Brown,' McGonagall said, 'an Outstanding.'

McGonagall tapped the crest on Lavender's robes but she was so shocked she barely noticed. The shock on Lavenders face was real as her parents and Blaise clapped. Harry joined in, and so did the rest of the year. Lavender was regarded as blonde and ditsy, but she had worked hard this year and it had paid off.

'Thank you so much Professor,' Lavender said with a watery smile as she shook McGonagall's hand and then proceeded to shake the rest of the teachers hands before leaving the stage and sitting down next to Susan who hugged her. Harry was very happy for Lavender, and proud too because she had known she was pregnant and had to deal with that mentally and physically while sitting her N.E.W.T's and this overall grade meant that she had done well. Hannah looked dismayed at the moment because she was the only person to have gotten an E.

'Miss. Sadie Cauldwell.'

Sadie and Hannah were very similar, so Sadie made her way to the stage shakily as Hannah had, and her face was beyond pale. When she reached McGonagall the Headmistress gave her the roll of parchment she was holding out and said, 'Congratulations Miss. Cauldwell, an Outstanding.'

Sadie beamed as McGonagall tapped her Slytherin crest. She shook McGonagall's and the other teacher's hands and sat down next to Lavender once she got off the stage, they both grinned at each other and hugged.

Next up was Isabelle who had a slight fit after finding out her grade level was an A. she stormed off of the stage without shaking McGonagall's or any of the other teacher's hands and her Father was glaring at her from the third row. On the bright side this seemed to cheer Hannah up a bit.

Michael Corner then got an O, but again he was a Ravenclaw. Then Gabrielle was called to the stage and given an E. She was very polite about it all, Harry suspected her parents had told her off after the incident that got her banned from the prom.

Hannah began to feel better about her E as more and more people got them. An E was a great grade level, most jobs asked for individual subject grades or a grade level E or above anyway. Justin got an E, and after him Seamus got an E.

'Miss. Hermione Granger.'

Harry watched his best friend carefully as she stood up, she looked slightly pale but she held herself up confidently. The war had changed her, but not necessarily in an entirely bad way. She was used to having to hold her head high now, and she didn't like them but she could handle speeches and public appearances, something a lot of others in their year graduating today couldn't.

McGonagall smiled proudly at Hermione as she held out the roll of parchment to her. Hermione accepted it, her hands not shaking a bit, and McGonagall said, 'Congratulations Miss. Granger, an Outstanding, of course.'

Hermione's smile could have lit up the whole of the great hall, and Harry caught out of the corner of his eye two people grinning as proudly as him; Ron and Draco. McGonagall then tapped Hermione's Gryffindor crest.

'Thank you Professor McGonagall,' Hermione said as she shook the Headmistresses hand then did the rounds with the other teachers. When she left the stage and sat down next to Seamus the grin was still on her face and her parents were grinning proudly in the audience.

'Miss. Daphne Greengrass.'

Harry smiled as Daphne got to her feet. He knew that she was nervous but she wasn't showing it. He knew that she didn't like to show her emotions. Daphne held her head high as she strolled up onto the stage, she wasn't shaking, but she was a little pale. The only small sign that she was nervous.

When she reached McGonagall she smiled politely and McGonagall smiled back as she handed the roll of parchment over which Daphne accepted.

'Congratulations Miss. Greengrass, an Outstanding,' McGonagall said with a small smile as she tapped her house crest.

Daphne beamed at this and shook her hand, 'Thank you Headmistress,' she said as she then did the usual, shook the other teacher's hands and was applauded off of the stage. Harry was incredibly proud, although he had known all along that Daphne would do well. She was intelligent, far more intelligent than she wanted people to believe sometimes.

Megan Jones was next up and she got an E then it was Neville's turn.

'Mr. Neville Longbottom.'

Neville looked slightly nervous as he made his way to the stage but he was hiding it well. His parents were both crying as he smiled at McGonagall and accepted his certificate from her.

'Congratulations Mr. Longbottom,' she said, 'an Exceeds Expectations.'

Neville grinned and thanked McGonagall as she tapped his crest. He had known he would never get an O, not after how dreadful he'd been in the O.W.L's, but he had hoped he would manage an E. After all he had been getting A's and fails a lot before he returned to 8th year so an E was an amazing achievement for him, and his parents were clapping loudly as Neville shook McGonagall's and the other teachers hands.

He was still beaming as he took his seat off of the stage. Ernie got an O after this and accepted it gratefully, and then Melody got an E which Harry found impressive considering how much magic and magical theory had changed since she was originally at school. It was then time for another of their group to be called onto the stage.

'Mr. Theodore Nott.'

Theo didn't seem nervous at all as he got to his feet with a confident smile and strolled to the stage. He greeted McGonagall and accepted the roll of parchment she handed to him with respect.

'Congratulations Mr. Nott, an Outstanding,' McGonagall said as she tapped his crest. Theo smirked at this, he shook McGonagall's hand and then did the same with the other teachers but decided to leave an impression by jumping off of the stage and then taking his seat. He grinned along the row at his shocked friends, they knew Theo was smart but he had been doing little to no work this year so barely anyone could believe he had gotten an O. Apart from Sadie of course, who he had kept up all night with his late night studying during the exams so that nobody knew he was actually studying.

The Patil twins were awarded their certificates next. Padma was up first and got an O as the smarter and the Ravenclaw of the two. Parvati then got a respectable E and finally it was his turn.

'Mr. Harry Potter.'

Harry didn't think he would feel nervous, he had felt okay until his name was called. His stomach churned as he got to his feet and glanced at his Aunt Petunia who was smiling at him. Next to her Andromeda was clapping and getting Teddy to do the same with his little hands which made Harry smile.

He approached McGonagall once he was actually on the stage and smiled at her as she held out the roll of parchment to him. His hands shook a little as he accepted it.

'Congratulations Mr. Potter, an Exceeds Expectations,' McGonagall said and Harry smiled because that was great as an average. As a whole he wasn't Hermione, or Daphne, or Draco, or Sadie, intellectually, he was average. So the grade was exactly what he had expected.

'Thank you Professor McGonagall,' Harry said as she tapped his crest and shook the Headmistresses hand. As he made the quick rounds shaking the hands of all the other teachers and saying goodbye he found it much more emotional than he originally thought that he would have.

By the time he had walked off of the stage, without falling off (Sirius had put the thought in his head), Harry felt emotionally drained and exhausted.

Tessie was next and she got an A just as Isabelle had, but she instead thanked McGonagall and the other teachers and left the stage respectably to clapping.

After this Zacharias Smith was called to the stage. He strolled up and was given his roll of parchment and the knowledge that he obtained a grade level A which he seemed very irritated about considering the speed his face performed the transition from slightly pink to violent purple. He was walking off of the stage when Theo pointed his wand in the boy's general direction and muttered, 'Confundus'. Zacharias proceeded to stumble down the stairs and fall flat on his face. Theo was not the only one in the row of students sniggering as he picked himself up and sat down next to Tessie.

McGonagall gave Theo a slight glare and mumbled, 'Theodore Nott, you may have graduated but you are still in the grounds of my school. Act like it.'

Theo actually looked guilty as he nodded with puppy dog eyes, but the moment McGonagall looked away he was grinning in Draco's direction once more.

'Mr. Ronald Weasley.'

Ron looked a little pale as he got to the stage, and Harry suspected it was partly because he felt like he didn't fit in with this year group. He was slow walking to the stage but when he got there he smiled anxiously at McGonagall as she handed over his certificate.

'Congratulations Mr. Weasley, an Exceeds Expectations,' McGonagall said, and like Harry had been, Ron was thrilled with this result because it was exactly what he had been hoping for. Realistically he knew that no matter how hard he tried he wasn't capable of an Outstanding but now he had a good qualification to get a good job and he had graduated high school. As she had with everyone else McGonagall tapped his Gryffindor crest to turn it back into a golden Hogwarts one. He then shook her hand and the other teachers and left the stage.

Finally the last student was called up.

'Mr. Blaise Zabini.'

Blaise looked cool and casual as he made his way up onto the stage. McGonagall smiled at him but he didn't smile back. She held out his certificate which he accepted with a small nod.

'Congratulations Mr. Zabini,' McGonagall informed the Slytherin, 'an Outstanding.'

'Thank you,' Blaise said so quietly only McGonagall and some students at the front with good hearing could hear him. She converted his crest and he shook her hand and did the same to the rest of the teachers before leaving the stage.

It had felt like it had taken forever, but it was over. Or at least the ceremony part was.

'Finally, for one last speech I would like to ask Mr. Harry Potter, Mr. Draco Black, Miss. Daphne Greengrass and Miss. Hermione Granger to the stage,' McGonagall said from the podium, she stood back with a small smile on her face. Neville grinned, he of course knew what was coming up, however Theo looked extremely confused.

Draco and Harry both took to the stage, their confused girlfriends followed slightly slower. They wouldn't have dared say it was a mistake, neither of them would say something like that to McGonagall. Harry and Draco both clenched the ring boxes in their pockets as they stood together on the right side of the stage waiting for the girls to get there. When they did they stood opposite of Harry and Draco looking positively puzzled.

Draco and Harry had rehearsed this, but they were both so nervous they were scared they would screw it up.

'Draco and I like to be individual,' Harry began, 'we like to be our own very separate people but get on well all the same,' he was addressing the crowd as well as the girls.

'And most of the time that works well, fine actually,' Draco said, sounding calmer than he felt, 'but when two very different people have exactly the same idea they clash over who will get to act on their idea.'

'Draco and I spent weeks trying to figure it out,' Harry said, the crowd looked as puzzled as their girlfriends, 'and instead of letting one person do what they wanted, we decided that since it was our joint idea we would do it together.'

'And nothing will show dear old Professor McGonagall more than this that her bonkers house unity rule actually worked,' Draco said as he turned to Hermione who was beginning to realise what was happening.

'So, Hermione Granger,' Draco said as he went down on one knee and pulled out the black box containing the ring.

'With that said,' Harry said as he looked to his stunned girlfriend, 'Daphne Greengrass,' he dropped down on one knee.

Then simultaneously both boys asked, 'will you marry me?'

There had been an initial gasp but the crowd were waiting with baited breath to hear the answer.

'Yes!' Daphne said first as she jumped into Harry's arms and let him slip the beautiful diamond cluster ring he had chosen onto her finger, 'yes,' she said with a grin, 'I'll marry you Harry.'

Their kiss was lost in the excitement of Hermione finally getting over the shock enough to speak, 'yes,' she said weakly as Draco slipped the simplistic ring he had chosen onto her finger and got to his feet, she shook her head as if she was struggling to believe this was happening, 'yes!' she said with a beam as she hugged Draco, the audience were now cheering but this was lost on the two couples who were completely caught up in their own moment.

McGonagall stepped forward and congratulated them both, she even hugged Harry which was rare, especially in public. Harry grinned at Daphne and took her hand, together they left the stage. A glance to Petunia and Andromeda told Harry that they both approved, and both Daphne's Mother and Sister were crying.

'I love you,' Harry whispered as they were separated into their separate seats.

'I love you too,' Daphne mouthed as she walked away, still beaming happily.

Draco and Hermione left the stage next, hand in hand and grinning just as broadly as Daphne and Harry. Likewise they glanced to their loved ones, Hermione's parents were both crying and even Narcissa looked a little teary. Draco caught his Fathers' eye for only a fraction of a second but was glad when he saw nothing but pride in his eyes.

'Thank you,' Draco whispered to Hermione as they were about to get forced into their separate seats.

'For what?' Hermione asked, still grinning.

'Saying yes,' Draco said, still smiling happily.

'What else was I gonna say?' Hermione teased as she kissed him lightly on the lips, 'I love you.'

'I love you too,' Draco said fondly as he sat down and Hermione walked to the other side of the stage where she was seated.

'That marks the end of the Graduation of the class of 1998/99 from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,' McGonagall announced with a genuine smile as she took the podium once more, 'thank you all very much for coming along, and we will be sending your children home via the Hogwarts Express.'

With that parents and sisters, and whatever else began to file out of the hall with quick goodbyes or hugs or waves. Finally the hall was empty and McGonagall then stepped down from the stage and said, 'follow me.'

Harry was wondering if what Daphne had said about the boats leaving Hogwarts was true as they followed McGonagall out of the great hall into the entrance hall. He ended up walking with Ron because Daphne was very busy with Sadie showing her the ring. Ron smiled and patted him on the back with a 'congrats' and Hermione hung back slightly as she walked with Draco and Susan who was examining her ring. Harry grinned, today was a sad day but he was so happy at the same time. They entered a room known as the Chamber of Reception that Harry hadn't been in since he had first arrived at Hogwarts. It brought back memories of Ron, and Draco. They then made their way down a similar flight of stairs and Harry knew after a few minutes that they were heading to the harbor under the school where the boats were, he recognised this place well even after such a long time.

'We're going to the harbor,' Harry muttered to Ron who he was walking with, Hermione had now caught up with them and heard him.

'So Daphne was right, we do leave by boat,' Hermione said in surprise, her eyes still flicking down every few seconds to her ring.

'Blimey that will be weird,' Ron said, adding, 'congratulations by the way Hermione.'

'Thanks Ron,' Hermione said with a glowing smile, Harry smiled too, 'I'm really happy for you Hermione,' he said as he gave her a brief hug which was no easy feat going down a flight of stairs as steep as the ones they were going down.

They then arrived in the gloomy, damp underground harbor. All three of them smiled when they saw Hagrid waiting there for them by the little boats.

'Harry, Ron, Hermione,' Hagrid said, sounding a bit emotional, 'it will be sad to see you go.'

'We'll come back and visit Hagrid,' Hermione promised, and Harry nodded, feeling rather sad to leave Hogwarts and Hagrid who had been a constant friend to him, 'and we'll always owl you Hagrid.'

'Yeah we promise,' Ron said and Hagrid burst into tears and pulled all 3 of them in for a bear hug. When he finally let them go it was because McGonagall told him in an undertone that they had to get the students on the boats.

There were several calls then of 'three to a boat' as the group all climbed into the little boats. Harry, Ron and Hermione were in one together and they set off first. It was strange the way it turned out, regardless of the friend groups they had formed in this last year they ended up in boat groups very similar to those they had arrived in. Only three could fit in a boat but some people were in two's. Draco, Theo and Blaise were in a boat together. Daphne and Sadie were also in one together and it looked as if they were both missing Tracey in that moment. Neville and Seamus were sharing a boat, as were Terry and Michael, and also Mandy and Megan. Ernie, Justin and Zacharias were all sharing a boat towards the back of the fleet and nearby them were Hannah, Susan and Melody. Forming the rear were two boats, one with Padma, Parvati and Lavender inside, and the other with Tessie, Isabelle and Gabrielle.

Hagrid led the group of boats from the front on a larger, modified boat to hold his weight. As they left the harbor it sunk in what they were leaving behind. They sailed across the silent lake and took in their final views of the magnificent castle where they had effectively grown up. The sun was shining and it looked spectacular as they all stared at it silently. Some were crying, others were glad to be gone, and some, like Harry and Ron were just emotionless. It must have been easier for Ron, but for Harry it was heart-breaking. He consoled himself with the knowledge that although he was leaving a large part of his life behind by leaving Hogwarts, he was starting a whole new chapter with Daphne who had now agreed to be his wife. He shot a grin back at her and she was smiling just as broadly, it was a day of mixed emotions.

The trip across the lake seemed to take half the time now compared to how long it had taken to get to Hogwarts when they first sailed in the darkness that night 8 years ago, and before they knew it the boats were at the harbor and it was time to get out. As they walked up the coast to the station where the gleaming red Hogwarts Express was waiting Hermione stood between Ron and Harry and held both of their hands. None of them wanted to let go, and it had nothing to do with romance or any long lost love or feelings.

In effect they had all just left everything they had ever known and all they could cling onto from that part of their life was each other, so until they had too, until the others started to arrive off of the boats and make their way to the station platform, they held on tight, and they didn't let go.

**TBC:)**


	64. We've Been Through it All

**The 8th Year**

**Chapter 64 – We've Been Through It All**

Harry, Hermione and Ron's sentimental moment didn't last long. The others started to arrive on the platform and Ron let go of Hermione's hand.

'I better get back,' Ron said with a sigh.

'You aren't getting the train?' Hermione asked, it hadn't even occurred to her that he might not.

Ron shook his head, 'Nah, I'm apparating home. It's faster.'

'Lucky you,' Harry said with a chuckle, 'we aren't allowed too.'

'Perks of being an honorary graduate,' Ron said with a grin, 'I might see you later anyway, at your graduation party.'

'Yeah I hope you can make it,' Harry said as he shook Ron's hand, 'see you later mate.'

'See you,' Ron said with a smile, he then hugged Hermione and they said their goodbyes.

Ron then spun on his heel on the platform and in seconds he was gone.

'Where'd the Weasel go?' Draco asked as he approached Hermione and put his arm around her.

'He's allowed to apparate,' Hermione said slightly huffily.

'Ah well, maybe it's a good thing. After all this is our last time on the Hogwarts Express,' Harry said with a sentimental smile as Daphne approached with Sadie.

'True,' Draco said thoughtfully, 'and it was where we called our truce,' he added with a chuckle.

'Where the first buds of your romance blossomed,' Daphne teased with a grin as she reached the group.

Harry laughed out loud and put his arm around his girlfriend, 'Not quite.'

'Oh yeah, it started in 1st year,' Hermione said, joining in with the teasing, 'with the hand shake that almost was.'

'Oh the handshake!' Theo said dramatically as he too joined in with the teasing, 'if only he had taken my hand Theo! We could have been great together!'

Harry burst out laughing at this final comment, 'did you _actually _say that?' he asked.

Draco's cheeks flushed slightly, 'I meant as friends Potter. We could have been a great partnership.'

'Yeah a civil partnership,' Hermione muttered which caused a wave of laughter to go around the group of friends.

'What did I miss?' Neville asked as he joined them with his arm around Hannah and Susan trailing behind slightly.

'Oh just Harry and Draco's civil partnership,' Daphne said casually.

Neville chuckled while Hannah looked slightly bemused, Hermione elaborated, 'we were just discussing the Hogwarts Express and its sentimental reasons.'

'Oh yes it must be so sentimental for you two,' Susan said jokingly to Draco and Harry, 'that loving moment where you smashed his nose in for example Draco.'

'Okay Susan so it's had its ups and its down but ultimately Draco and Harry's Hogwarts Express relationship is unbreakable,' Theo said in that same dramatic tone.

Draco shook his head in amusement as they boarded the Express which was only two carriages long since there were so few students leaving on it today.

Harry was still chuckling and still had his arm wrapped around his fiancé as he followed Draco and Hermione on. The two carriages on the train were the prefect's carriages which were larger and much more homely so they settled into a large compartment with comfortable benches.

'And so we are homeward bound,' Harry said as he looked out of the window. The train had just started to move slowly out of the station.

'For you maybe,' Draco said from where he was sitting opposite Harry, his arm still wrapped around Hermione, 'everyone else is going to _your _home.'

'Ah who cares,' Daphne said with a smile, 'we'll all be together, it will feel like Hogwarts.'

'Only smaller,' Hermione pointed out.

'And with more creepy dark magic artefacts,' Theo added with a smirk.

'Only if you go in the attic,' Harry said with a chuckle as Theo's eyes lit up at this.

'So is the post-Graduation party tonight now a double engagement party?' Neville asked the others with a chuckle.

'Of course not,' Hermione replied with a Slytherin-esque smirk, 'we'll have two separate engagement parties too.'

'Any excuse for a party,' Daphne agreed with a wink.

'Merlin you've turned her into a Slytherin,' Harry said to Draco in amusement.

Draco merely smirked happily at this remark.

'So, who's up for a game of Wizards Chess?'

* * *

><p>The train journey passed fast in the end, with the friends playing games of Wizards Chess and Exploding Snap. The time was flying by faster than they realised and before they knew it the train was whizzing into London.<p>

'Wow, we're almost there,' Hermione said as she looked out of the window, everyone was comfortable, with Daphne and Harry cuddled up, and Draco and Hermione cozied up, Neville and Hannah had spent most of the journey that way too. Sadie and Theo weren't quite as loved up, but Susan had been feeling slightly left out.

'That was fast,' Hannah said as she glanced down at her watch.

'It always seems to go faster I find,' Harry said thoughtfully, 'the train to Hogwarts seemed to take all day but the train back whizzed by.'

'Yeah,' Draco said with a slight nod.

'So what happens now?' Harry asked the others as the train pulled into Platform 9 ¾.

They had talked briefly about life after Hogwarts. Ultimately everyone would move in with him in Grimmauld place, but he knew some people were planning on going home and spending some time with their families first.

'I'm heading home for a week,' Neville said as he pulled his trunk off of the train, 'I want to spend some time with my parents, but I'll see you tonight anyway.'

'Yeah I'm going home for a week or so too,' Hannah said, smiling at her fiancé as he pulled her trunk down for her.

'You already know I'm going back home Harry,' Hermione said as she grabbed Crookshanks before he could try and escape, 'I might stay a little longer than a week but I'll be back before the wedding.'

She was referring of course to Sadie and Theo's wedding.

'I'm going home to finalise some plans with my family for the wedding,' Sadie informed the others as they made their way off of the train, 'but I'll only be a few days.'

'I'm not,' Theo said with a snort, 'my sister is alright but you know I don't really get on with my Step-mother, I'm going straight to your house Harry.'

'I'm doing the same,' Draco admitted as he and the other boys hauled the girls luggage off of the train, 'I don't have anything against my Mother but we've never had the best relationship, I'll be going with you too Harry.'

'I'm going home,' Daphne said as they finally got off the train, she kissed Harry lightly, 'just for a couple of days, but you'll see me tonight at the party.'

'Sure,' Harry said as he kissed his now fiancé again, 'I'll see you tonight.'

'I love you,' Daphne said as she kissed him once more before hurrying over to where her Mother was waiting.

'What about you Susan? You coming with us?' Harry asked the Hufflepuff as Neville and Hannah, Sadie and Theo, and Draco and Hermione said their goodbyes.

Susan nodded slightly glumly and said, 'it's not like I've got anywhere else to go.'

'How about my place?' a voice asked from behind her, Harry smirked, he had seen Percy coming.

Susan jumped and turned around, she grinned when she saw Percy and in an uncharacteristic emotional fit she jumped up on him and hugged him. Percy laughed and hugged her back, 'well done on your Outstanding.'

'Thanks,' Susan said with a slight pink tinge to her cheeks, 'I thought you were out of the country chasing evil and all.'

'I was,' Percy said with a chuckle, 'I don't know when you got my owl but I was called out early on Friday morning to Asia.'

'I got your owl yesterday morning,' Susan said, 'and I doubt even you can catch a Death Eater that quickly.'

Percy raised an eyebrow at her, 'You underestimate me Susan, caught and back in Azkaban by lunchtime yesterday.'

Susan laughed at this and said, 'so you're even more badass than I originally thought.'

Harry smiled slightly from where he was trying to look like he wasn't eavesdropping as they kissed. So were they a thing now? He wondered, he didn't dare ask Susan that, Daphne had warned him she was sensitive about the issue.

'Harry,' Susan said, getting his attention. He turned around looking positively surprised and inquisitive, or at least he attempted to.

'Now that you've finished eavesdropping,' Susan smirked, and Harry chuckled, the Hufflepuff continued, 'I'll see you later for the party and I'll probably move in then.'

Harry laughed, 'I'll have your room prepared in the Potter mansion,' he joked which made her laugh.

'I'll see you later,' Susan said as she hugged Harry and left with Percy, they were holding hands as they walked through the barrier which made Harry happy.

'So Potter, what now?'

Harry turned around to where Draco and Theo were waiting, the rest of the platform was pretty much empty.

'To the basement with the personal bar in Grimmauld place,' Harry said with a grin and the other two agreed as they all apparated to Harry's house.

* * *

><p>The first port of call for the three boys when they got back to Grimmauld place was to dump their incredibly heavy Hogwarts trunks in their bedrooms. This meant Draco and Theo got first pick of the bedrooms and Harry couldn't help but laugh as they acted like excited kids looking through all of the bedrooms and picking the best ones.<p>

The basement of the house didn't have any bedrooms, and neither did the ground floor. The 1st floor was dominated by the drawing room but there were also 5 small single bedrooms on that floor, one of which had a miniature potions lab attached. Theo and Draco skipped this floor and made for the second floor where the bedrooms were larger. There were 6 bedrooms on the second floor, 3 of which had studies attached, and 4 of which had ensuite bathrooms. Draco picked the largest room, and Theo whined about it then picked the room opposite his best friend. Draco and Harry knew of course that he wouldn't be here for long anyway because he had his own house, but Theo didn't know this.

With the crucial part (picking rooms) over, Harry said to his friends, 'Right, who wants a proper tour of my newly refurbished basement?'

'Didn't this whole house just get refurbished?' Draco asked with a smirk.

'Yes it did,' Harry replied with a chuckle, 'but I wasn't content with the basement layout so I changed it slightly.'

'You weren't content with it?' Theo asked with a snort, 'you had your own bloody room of requirement.'

'Oh I still have that,' Harry said with a grin as he led Draco and Theo down the stairs at the end of the hall to the basement. Before they had emerged in a corridor with only one door leading off of it, but the layout was slightly different. They walked down the narrow staircase with the now white rather than black walls.

When they emerged this time they weren't in a corridor. Instead they were in a large, old-fashioned style kitchen where Kreacher was working away on something.

'Master Harry,' Kreacher said as he bowed to Harry, 'Kreacher is preparing food for Master Harry's party tonight.'

'Oh thanks Kreacher,' Harry said with a grin, 'can I try some?'

'Of course Master Harry,' Kreacher said as he fetched a tray full of typical 'nibbles', party food. Harry, Draco and Theo all tasted some and it was delicious.

'That's great Kreacher,' Draco said, and Theo nodded, 'I wish my Step-Mothers house elf was as good as you Kreacher.'

Kreacher turned slightly pink and bowed so low his nose touched the floor, then he thanked them profusely.

Harry smiled at this and continued with his tour, in the middle of the kitchen was a long wooden bench which Harry only really used when he was home alone. Otherwise he used one of the dining rooms, but this kitchen was where he had spent so much time in the summer before his 5th year because the formal and informal dining rooms hadn't been in use then.

There were 3 doors leading off of the kitchen, Harry pointed to a door half the size of any ordinary door and said, 'that's Kreacher's bedroom, and that,' he pointed at the door next to it, 'is the pantry.'

'So what's through there?' Theo asked pointing to the door at the other side of the kitchen. Harry pushed the door open and beckoned them in, 'this is my room of requirement,' he said, but they already knew that, 'but as you know I like it to be a bar and chill area, sometimes with a dueling platform. This is where I'm having the party tonight, the ballroom is too big, and too formal.'

'Makes sense,' Draco said, adding with a smirk, 'and it does have a bar.'

The room didn't have the dueling platform at the moment. Instead it was a long, thin room with a sizeable mini bar at the far end and lots of comfortable seats and tables with a small dance floor area.

'Now this we recognise,' Theo said, 'but that we don't,' he pointed to a door on the right wall of the room which hadn't been there before.

Harry grinned, 'this is the new part,' he said as he led them to the door and pushed it open. He walked through and let Draco and Theo follow him. The new room was a large swimming pool and there were two doors going off it.

'Wow, this is neat,' Theo said with a grin.

'I know,' Harry said, 'this is a heated pool, and through that door is the changing room,' he smirked, 'then the other door is a sauna.'

'Seriously?' Draco asked in disbelief, 'you're just showing off now.'

'Hey I was raised with no pocket money or birthday presents, I think I can splash out on a luxury house,' Harry joked with a grin, 'anyway you live here now you have full access to everything I'm showing you.'

'Nice,' Theo grinned and Draco chuckled, 'I'm not going to complain about that,' he admitted.

'What's through that door?' Draco asked, pointing at the door on the opposite side of the changing room and sauna.

'Oh just a corridor leading to a bathroom,' Harry said casually, 'so who fancies a swim and then a drink?'

'Sounds like my idea of a good plan,' Draco said with a smile. By the time the graduation ceremony had finished and the train had left, then taking into account the length of the train journey they didn't actually have that much time to kill until the party.

After all it was 7pm now and the party began officially at 8.30pm, but then again Harry, Draco and Theo didn't take hours to get ready like their fiancé's…

* * *

><p>At 8pm Harry, Draco and Theo made their way upstairs to get ready for the party. It was a casual affair with just the people from their year invited so he didn't bother dressing up too fancy. Instead he flung on a shirt and a pair of jeans and changed his trainers for smarter shoes. He wandered downstairs to the basement where the party would be and expected to be on his own for a few minutes until Draco and Theo arrived. Instead however he was waiting for a full half an hour until his two friends materialised at 8.30pm on the dot.<p>

'What the hell took you two so long?' Harry asked with raised eyebrows when they finally sauntered in wearing almost exactly the same thing that they had before (black trousers and green shirts).

'We were getting ready,' Theo said as if this were obvious.

'It doesn't take half an hour to get ready,' Harry scoffed as he surveyed his two friends.

'It does if you're Draco,' Theo said with a smirk.

'You weren't any better,' Draco retorted.

'How do you take _30 minutes _to get ready?' Harry asked as he shook his head in disbelief.

'Easy, 5 minute toilet break, 10 minute shower, 5 minutes grooming time, 5 minutes getting dressed, 2 and a half minutes to look in the mirror and admire yourself, then 2 and a half minutes to get downstairs,' Theo rattled off with a smirk.

Harry added this up in his head and nodded, 'Fair enough, but you two took so long to get ready that people will start arriving any minute.'

Kreacher was upstairs by the door letting people in and showing them to the 'party room' in the basement so Harry didn't have to worry about trying to hear the doorbell all the way down here.

On his word people started to arrive, Hermione was first of course and Draco greeted her as if they hadn't seen each other for days rather than hours which made Theo and Harry roll their eyes at each other. When Sadie arrived next Theo merely smiled and kissed her on the cheek, Harry expected Daphne to be fashionably late. Among the on-time guests were Ernie, Justin, Neville and Hannah who all arrived around the same time.

As more and more people arrived Harry realised almost everyone had made it, even people he wasn't sure about like Melody, Megan and Mandy. All of the Gryffindors showed up, the Patil twins turned up together and hugged Harry when they saw him, then Seamus showed up with a crate of butterbeer. Lavender and Blaise showed up together.

'Hey guys,' Lavender said as she hugged Harry, Sadie, Hermione and Hannah, 'we brought something for the party,' she said as she handed Harry a bottle of firewhiskey, 'but I won't be having any obviously.'

Hermione chuckled, 'Yeah that's probably for the best, hey Blaise,' she added as an afterthought.

Blaise waved somewhat awkwardly and said, 'Hi,' then wandered off.

'He's probably gone to find Draco or Theo,' Lavender said offhandedly, she was obviously used to Blaise and his mysterious ways.

The others laughed at this as more people arrived, Terry and Michael arrived together and greeted Harry with hi-fives. It was nearing 9pm and Daphne still hadn't arrived, but this didn't surprise Harry. There was no sign of Ron either and he really hoped that his old friend would make it tonight.

Tessie and Isabelle even showed up, although thankfully there was no sign of Gabrielle and the clock ticked until it was past 9pm. Harry got hopeful every time the door opened but unfortunately the first person to wander through was Zacharias to a slight groan throughout the room. Susan arrived shortly after him with a grin on her face and a bounce in her step.

'Well we all know what you were up too earlier,' Harry teased as he offered her a drink, he was acting as the barman at the moment.

'No, only you know because you were so rudely eavesdropping,' Susan said with a raised eyebrow.

'Was it that obvious?' Harry asked as he handed her a small firewhiskey.

'Yes,' Susan said simply, she added, 'and the reason I'm in such a good mood I will have you know Mr. Potter, is that Percy asked me to go official with him.'

'That's great Susan,' Harry said with a smile, 'you better go tell the girls.'

'Are you kidding? I'd better wait for Daphne, she'd kill me if told them before she got here,' Susan said with a chuckle.

Harry rolled his eyes slightly, 'I don't think she knows how to tell the time,' he said as the doors opened and the woman they were discussing walked in. Everyone else was dressed down in fairly casual, comfortable dresses or jeans and shirts, but Daphne didn't seem to know the meaning of dressing down. She was wearing a fairly short black dress with a transparent middle and back and a golden decorated bust.

Harry rolled his eyes as she strolled towards him, Susan smirked, 'are you just realising what you've let yourself in for?'

'Yep,' Harry said as he shook his head in amusement, 'but then again your one of the ones she'll be taking dress shopping.'

'I'm one of the bridesmaids?' Susan asked in shock, Harry bit his lip, 'oops, I wasn't supposed to mention that,' he admitted.

On the train he and Daphne had talked quietly about such things and Daphne had explicitly told him not to tell anyone, 'pretend you don't know,' Harry whispered as Daphne approached.

'Sure,' Susan chuckled, leaning against the bar as Daphne finally reached them.

'Hey latecomer,' Harry said as he leaned across the bar and kissed her.

'Fashionably late,' Daphne said simply.

Harry just laughed, 'what can I get you?'

'Firewhiskey please barman,' Daphne said, chuckling when Harry slid her glass across the bar to her in record time.

'Not a bad turnout,' Daphne said as she looked around. People were mostly standing or sitting around talking and drinking at the moment.

'Almost everyone's here,' Susan agreed as she surveyed the room, 'although I note that Gabrielle is absent.'

'Thank Merlin for that,' Harry muttered, making both girls laugh.

'Weasley isn't here either,' Daphne noted which surprised Harry, he didn't think she paid that much attention.

'No he isn't,' Harry said, a tinge of sadness in his voice, 'he wasn't sure if he'd make it, with Katie being pregnant and all.'

'I'm sure he'll turn up, even if it's only for a little while,' Daphne reassured her now fiancé, she kissed him lightly and said, 'I'll talk to you later, I need to tell my bridesmaids that I've picked them,' she joked.

Susan laughed, 'so did I make the cut?' she asked jokingly.

Daphne grinned and linked her arm through Susan's, 'Of course you did,' she said to her friend as they walked towards the table where Hermione, Sadie and Hannah were sitting.

Harry smiled as he watched Daphne happily chatting to her friends, it was so nice considering how closed off and cold she had been when they first met. In less than a year he felt they had gone through so much together and changed so much, it felt amazing.

'A picture would last longer,' a familiar voice retorted jokingly.

Harry grinned and hugged Ron across the bar when he saw his friend, 'Ron, hey, I didn't even see you come in.'

'I know, you were pretty preoccupied daydreaming after your new fiancé,' Ron said, his amusement clear.

Instead of blushing as he would have once from a comment like that, Harry just grinned, 'it's not my fault that she's the most amazing person I've ever met.'

Ron smiled slightly, 'you really love her, don't you?'

Harry nodded, taking his eyes off of Daphne to focus on Ron, 'yeah, I really do,' he admitted.

'I would never have said this a year ago, but I'm glad things turned out the way they did,' Ron said as he accepted the butterbeer that Harry handed him, 'I would have never thought you, or Hermione, would have ended up with Slytherins but you both work well together…' he trailed off, 'the prejudices I held were stupid and I regret them, but I think things have turned out for the best.'

'Thanks mate,' Harry said honestly, that meant a lot, 'but things probably didn't turn out as expected for you either.'

Ron shrugged and looked thoughtfully at the wall, 'I never thought I'd end up with Katie and obviously things didn't exactly go to plan but I can't wait to be a Dad and as cheesy as it sounds she's made me a different person, a better one I think.'

'I think all of our other halves have made us better to be honest,' Harry said with a small smile, 'I mean look at Hermione, she's never been so confident, and Daphne's taught me how to have fun after the war. No offence mate, but you could be a right arsehole sometimes and Katie's knocked that out of you.'

Ron chuckled, 'no offence taken,' he said, 'you're right, I could be an arsehole.'

'I've forgiven you,' Harry told him, because although they had mended some fences he didn't think he had ever told Ron he did forgive him for what had happened at the beginning of the year.

'Did I tell you why it happened?' Ron asked, looking down as if he were ashamed.

Harry shook his head and Ron sighed as he sat down in one of the barstools, 'Mum sent me to St. Mungo's when I got home, said I was acting really strange. They did all of these checks and said I was suffering from a condition they had only just diagnosed.'

'Really?' Harry asked, he hadn't heard anything about this.

Ron nodded, 'The healer called it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,' he said, still not looking Harry in the eye, 'she said it made me act like I was still in the war, like I couldn't trust anyone and everyone was out to get me.'

'Merlin,' Harry said, taking all of this in, 'so that's why you attacked Draco.'

Ron nodded once more, still looking at the floor, 'they reckon so. I've had a lot of help though and it's getting better, Katie's helped a lot.'

'That's good then,' Harry said, still shocked.

'It just made me feel weak, you know?' Ron asked, catching Harry's eye for the first time, 'I couldn't understand why everyone else was fine and I was going through it, but then I found out I wasn't the only one. There were about 200 diagnosed cases this year.'

'I don't think it makes you weak anyway,' Harry said thoughtfully, 'it just makes you more, I dunno…it's like you had that because you had real nightmares in your past, in the war,' he chewed his lip, 'it's like me with the dementors, I saw and heard things really horrible which was why I was the only one to pass out. It didn't make me weaker than anyone else, it just meant I'd overcome more in the past.'

Ron was looking at Harry with a strange look, after a moment he nodded, 'Yeah,' he said thoughtfully, 'you should be one of these psychiatric healers,' he added with a chuckle.

'No thanks,' Harry said with a snort, and Ron smiled.

'Harry!' Daphne called from the table not so far away from the bar, 'come tell the girls about your groomsmen!'

Harry nodded, 'two minutes Daph,' he said and she nodded and turned back to her friends. Harry turned back to Ron, 'I wondered if you wanted to be one of my groomsmen,' he said, 'I mean Draco and Theo will be there too, so if you're uncomfortable with it-'

'Nah,' Ron said, cutting Harry off, 'I'd love too.'

'Great,' Harry said with a grin, genuinely pleased, 'well I better attend to my fiancé's demands,' he said as he jumped over the bar, 'thanks for coming by tonight Ron.'

'No problem Harry,' Ron said simply as Harry walked towards the girls.

* * *

><p>After walking away from Harry, Daphne sat down and told her friends what she and Harry had decided on the train.<p>

'So, Sadie I want you to be Maid of Honour,' Daphne said which made her friend cry a little and they hugged.

'And Hermione, Hannah and Susan, I want you guys to be my bridesmaids. I know you're only supposed to have 3 including the Maid of Honour, but I couldn't decide,' she admitted somewhat sheepishly.

They all laughed and talked in more detail about what sort of colours or themes Daphne had in mind, and she told them they were wondering about a winter themed wedding, but then it was Hermione's turn to talk.

'Well I decided that I want you to be my Maid of Honour Daph,' Hermione said to the Slytherin, 'if you want too of course.'

'Don't be stupid Mione,' Daphne said with a grin, 'of course I'll be your Maid of Honour.'

'Thanks Daphne,' Hermione said as she hugged her friend, 'I can't imagine it being anyone else.'

She turned to the Hannah, Sadie and Susan and said, 'and I want you all to be my bridesmaids obviously.'

There was yet another round of hugs and talk of how Hermione and Draco weren't sure of the theme of their wedding yet, just that they wanted it to be the summer after this one so they could get settled into their jobs first.

By the time Daphne called Harry over they were at the point of talking about groomsmen.

Harry smiled as he walked over and sat down in one of the armchairs with his butterbeer, 'now I would happily tell you of my choices but I think I ought to tell my groomsmen first,' Harry said with a chuckle.

'Ah you're boring,' Hermione said as she called the boys over from a nearby table, they sauntered over and leaned on the back of armchairs.

'What's up?' Draco asked.

'Harry's just releasing the pivotal groomsmen information,' Daphne said dramatically which made Harry laugh.

'Nev, I want you to be my best man,' Harry said to his fellow Gryffindor who actually got slightly teary as he hugged him, 'thanks Harry,' he said as they had a 'manly' hug which Theo and Draco watched with amusement.

'And I want you guys to be my groomsmen,' Harry said to Draco and Theo when Neville let go of him, 'along with Ron, if you can handle that.'

'Weasel? Nah, I ain't doing it,' Theo said, smirking and adding, 'nah I'm kidding, course that's okay.'

'Yeah, for you Harry we'll put up with him,' Draco said with a chuckle.

Harry grinned happily, 'Good, I'm glad we all agree.'

'I suppose I should announce mine then,' Draco said with a small smile, 'Harry, I want you to be the Best Man.'

'WHAT?' Theo practically screeched, drawing all attention to him, 'after everything we've been through Draco? You pick _him_?' Theo actually sounded genuinely hurt but Draco was grinning.

'Shut up you fool, I'm joking. Course you're my best man!' Draco said with a grin towards his best friend.

At this Theo actually let out one or two genuine tears that only those in the closest vicinity saw as he hugged Draco and said under his breath, 'Thanks man.'

'Don't sweat it,' Draco said, patting Theo on the back, finally after clinging on for a good few minutes Theo let go and drank what was left of his firewhiskey.

'So,' Draco said, still vaguely amused at Theo's reaction, he turned to Harry and Neville, 'I wondered if you two would be groomsmen? I asked Blaise earlier, he agreed.'

'I'd love too,' Harry said with a fond smile and Neville nodded, also smiling, 'me too Draco,' he said and with that they all raised a glass and toasted their engagements.

* * *

><p>The sophistication of the night ebbed away as certain guests left and more alcohol was consumed. By around 2am in the morning the only people left were the usual suspects which included Harry, Daphne, Hermione, Draco, Neville, Hannah, Sadie, Theo, Susan and Percy who had appeared sometime around midnight. The party had been relatively uneventful, Zacharias had been escorted out by Kreacher after getting into a fight with Theo which resulted in the Slytherin pushing him into Harry's pool to much amusement, and Tessie and Isabelle had tried to chat up almost all of the otherwise engaged men in the room, but other than that nothing much else had happened. It had just been an enjoyable night, but most people had been tired from the long day and left, and Blaise had anxiously taken Lavender home the minute the clock hit midnight.<p>

'I think we should play a game,' Daphne suggested with a grin, the remaining 10 were sitting around in armchairs in a loose circle.

'Alright, I'm game,' Susan said with a smirk, 'how about truth or dare?'

'Nah,' Harry said shaking his head, 'we always play that.'

'Why don't we play 'Snog, Marry, Avoid'?' Hermione asked playfully.

Susan and Daphne shared a disbelieving look and then both looked at Hermione.

'What?' Hermione asked, looking vaguely self-conscious.

'It was 'Snog, Marry, Avoid' when we were 5 years old Mione,' Susan chuckled, 'it's more like 'Screw, Marry, Avoid' now.'

Hermione blushed slightly at this, 'Oh, right,' she said, feeling rather naïve. Draco merely chuckled and put his arm around her.

'Alright I think it's a good idea,' Daphne said with a grin, she grabbed one of the empty firewhiskey bottles from the nearest table and put it on the floor then muttered a charm under her breath, 'you know the drill right? Whoever the bottle lands on first gets asked the question, whoever it lands on second asks the question.'

'Got ya,' Harry said with a grin and Daphne spun the bottle.

It spun fast then slowed down, eventually landing on Harry and then Susan. The redhead grinned and Harry grimaced, that was never a good sign.

'Draco, Neville, Theo,' Susan said wickedly.

Harry groaned and thought about this for a moment, 'Marry Neville,' he said, getting sniggered at by his best friend for this, 'screw…Draco, and avoid Theo.'

'Pfft,' Draco muttered, 'like I'd marry you anyway scarhead.'

Hermione chuckled in amusement under her breath at the fact Draco seemed vaguely offended.

'Oi, why would you avoid me Pothead?' Theo asked indignantly.

'Sorry Theo,' Harry joked, 'don't wanna become another number in your list of conquests.'

Theo shook his head in mock disbelief, 'you'd regret it.'

'He's lying anyway,' Hermione said with a smirk, 'he's avoiding you because he's already at least kissed the other two.'

Harry shot Hermione a mock glare for this and Neville said, 'Oi, you weren't supposed to tell anyone about that.'

'Oh come on, do tell,' Susan said with a grin.

Harry rolled his eyes and glared at Hermione once more, 'Love potion gone wrong in remedial potions…' he said, shuddering as if he was trying to forget the memory.

'Enough said,' Draco said, making a face.

Daphne scoffed as she smirked at her friend, 'oh shut up, half the guys in Hogwarts knew about it when you were going through your 'experimental' phase.'

This shut Draco up, and caused a wave of sniggers to go around the group.

The firewhiskey bottle was spun once more, this time by Harry and it landed first on Draco and then second on Daphne which worried the male Slytherin.

'Okay, Harry, Neville, Theo,' Daphne said, smirking at Susan who was sitting next to her.

Draco groaned, just as Harry had earlier but answered, 'Marry Theo,' at this Theo sighed sadly, 'sorry Draco, I'm engaged now, you missed your chance.'

Draco chuckled in amusement then grimaced, 'I can't believe I'm saying it, but screw Potter.'

'Sorry Draco, a kiss was enough,' Harry joked which got him a mock glare from the Slytherin who finished with, 'avoid Neville.'

'Why?' Neville asked, pretending to be affronted by this.

'Uh fatbottom, remember?' Draco remarked.

'Rear of the year Draco,' Neville said with a wink, and Draco actually growled. He didn't like to be reminded of the fact he lost out on that award to Neville.

The next culprits were chosen by Draco who spun the bottle which landed first on Neville and then second on Sadie.

Sadie grinned and shared a glance with her evil female friends, Neville had a feeling he knew what was coming, 'Draco, Theo, Harry.'

'Marry Harry,' Neville said, glancing to his fellow Gryffindor, 'just to return the favour,' he joked which made Harry laugh.

He then grimaced, 'screw Theo.'

'Sure thing Nev, upstairs, right now, you and me,' Theo joked which earned him a slap round the back of the head from Sadie to much sniggering from the others.

Neville managed to stop laughing enough a few minutes later to say, 'and avoid Draco.'

'Wouldn't want you anyway, fatbottom,' Draco muttered under his breath causing Neville and everyone else in the room to roll their eyes.

Next Neville spun the bottle which landed first on Theo and then on Hermione who grinned wickedly.

'Come on then,' Theo said, predicting her next move, 'ask me which one of my best friends I want to screw.'

Hermione chuckled and said, 'Harry, Neville, Draco.'

'Well I would marry Draco obviously, because he's just such a sexy beast,' Theo said, and Draco grinned in amusement, 'and I'd screw Neville, because he clearly wants me,' he winked at Neville who shook his head in amusement, 'and I'd avoid scarhead.'

'Well I don't care Theo, because I'm already screwing Draco, and marrying Neville!' Harry joked and a ripple of laughter went through the group.

It was then Theo's turn to spin the bottle which landed on Susan and then secondly on Neville who decided with a grin that he would get his own back for what the girls had done in their earlier questions, 'Theo, Harry, Draco.'

Percy laughed out loud at this, as if he knew something that the others didn't.

Susan appeared to be thoughtful for a moment and then said, 'Marry Harry, screw Theo, avoid Draco.'

'That was fast,' Sadie said with an amused chuckle

'How _did_ you work that one out?' Percy asked with sarcastic amusement, he definitely knew something the others didn't.

Susan smirked ever so slightly, 'I've slept with all three of them, I just did it by ranking.'

Harry grinned in amusement at this and Daphne rolled her eyes with amusement and exasperation all at the same time.

'He's better than me?' Theo asked, he shook his head, 'ridiculous!'

Sadie patted Theo on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear that shut him up very quickly.

'I'm last? Come on Susan, that's unfair!' Draco whined childishly.

'Pretty accurate though,' Daphne said, 'Harry is _so _much better.'

Sadie sat in the corner giggling at this and Hannah was laughing loudly from where she was sat next to Neville.

Hermione nodded, 'yeah, I have to agree actually,' she said, looking very serious.

Draco's jaw dropped, 'What?! Hermione!'

Hermione burst out laughing at the fact Draco had fallen for her trick, 'I'm only kidding Draco. You're so easy.'

The others all laughed loudly at this and it seemed to echo throughout the entire house.

* * *

><p>The next morning was amusing with everyone arriving for breakfast somewhere nearer to noon in the kitchen and everyone, including Hermione, looking rather rough. Theo had phrased it perfectly however, 'hey you only graduate once!'<p>

The days had flown by after that, with the population of the house growing as more and more people came back from their visits at their parent's houses. Harry loved having so many people in Grimmauld Place and he knew Daphne felt the same having only really grown up with her sister. All of the rooms bar one on the second floor were completely filled in a week and the house was buzzing with excitement as Sadie and Theo's wedding drew nearer.

'Have fun picking out the dress,' Harry said to Daphne in an undertone as he kissed his fiancé on the cheek one morning at breakfast. It was Monday now, just after a week since they left Hogwarts and everyone was here, Hermione had come back early in the end. Sadie and Theo's wedding was less than a week away now on Saturday.

'She'll be fine,' Daphne said with a smile as she glanced over to her best friend, 'Sadie isn't the kind of person that will take hours to pick a dress.'

'No, but I feel sorry for whoever you drag along when you go dress shopping,' Harry commented with a smirk, 'you'll probably have to camp in the shop, it would take a whole weekend.'

'Oh shut up you,' Daphne said with a small smile, she couldn't tease him properly about it because in actual fact she couldn't wait.

'Are you ready?' Sadie asked, she had barely eaten, was fully dressed and bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

'We're ready,' Daphne said as she got up from her seat, 'and I gather you're a little excited.'

'Just a bit,' Sadie said with a grin which made everyone chuckle.

'Have a good day with the dress picking,' Theo said as he kissed his fiancé.

'Remember that the dress robes have to match the colour scheme,' Sadie said, kissing Theo.

'Yes ma'am,' Theo said with a salute.

Sadie laughed, 'Have a good day, I'll see you tonight.'

'Bye,' the boys all said as they waved the girls out of the house. Once they were gone and the door was shut Harry turned to Draco, Theo and Neville, 'it doesn't take 6 hours to pick some robes and get them adjusted does it?'

'No, it takes 2,' Theo said simply.

'3 if you include time for a drink in the Leaky Cauldron afterwards,' Draco said with a smirk.

'So basically we have 3 hours to kill,' Neville said with a grin.

Harry nodded, 'are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?'

'Time for a duelling competition?'

'I was thinking time for a swim.'

'Well I want a sauna.'

* * *

><p>'You do realise that they aren't going to do anything until lunchtime, right?' Hermione asked the other girls as they walked down Diagon Alley.<p>

'I'm well aware of that,' Sadie said with a chuckle.

'Yeah, they'll claim that it won't take 6 hours to get dress robes,' Hannah added.

Daphne rolled her eyes, 'I bet they'll realise it's not as easy as they think it is when they actually get there.'

'As long as they get the right dress robes in the end then it won't be a disaster,' Susan said, soothing Sadie who looked slightly anxious.

'Here we are,' Sadie said with a deep breath as they reached the bridal shop.

'Nervous?' Daphne asked as they walked in arm and arm with the others following them. Sadie nodded, 'a little,' she admitted.

An overly enthusiastic Italian woman greeted them when they walked in and half an hour later Sadie had picked 4 dresses and she was trying them on while Daphne, Hermione, Hannah and Susan were sitting around waiting to see them in incredibly comfortable chairs.

'I don't know how we're going to help her pick,' Hermione said to the others, 'Sadie could look gorgeous in rags.'

'It must be a Slytherin thing,' Hannah said with a chuckle, 'you're the same Daph, you all look so amazing all of the time.'

'Slytherin charm,' Daphne joked as Sadie emerged from the changing room in her first dress.

It was very Princess-like, with a large white puffy skirt and a strapless white lace effect corset. Sadie looked lovely in it.

'What do you think?' Sadie asked, looking a little unsure of herself.

'I don't know,' Daphne said honestly as she looked at her best friend.

'It's a lovely dress,' Hermione said.

'And you look beautiful in it,' Hannah added.

'It's just not quite…you,' Susan said truthfully as Sadie looked in the mirror and turned around a few times.

'It's too big and puffy for you Sadie,' Daphne said and her fellow Slytherin nodded, 'yeah, it just doesn't look right does it?'

Daphne and Susan shook their heads.

'On to number 2 then,' Sadie said as she disappeared into the changing room once more.

When she emerged a few minutes later she looked even more amazing in the second dress. It was more figure hugging and was drawn in at her waist then fanned out towards the bottom. It was fairly simple with an elaborate lace bust.

'You look gorgeous Sadie,' Daphne said, preferring the dress.

'You think so?' Sadie asked, she looked unsure again, 'I don't know.'

'Maybe it's just too simple for you,' Hermione suggested and Sadie nodded, 'Maybe,' she said as she disappeared once more to try on dress number 3.

'I thought you said she wasn't picky?' Hannah asked Daphne with a chuckle.

'Well it _is _her wedding dress I suppose,' Daphne said through laughter.

When Sadie emerged wearing the 3rd dress she still looked amazing. This dress was similar to the last one, but the skirt was a little bigger. All of the dresses so far had been strapless and this one was the same, but from the skirt upwards the top was decorated with lace effect flowers, only they didn't extend to the neckline of the dress like the last one had.

'That's lovely Sadie,' Susan said with a smile, 'very simplistic.'

'Yeah,' Sadie said, turning around and looking at it, 'a little too simplistic I think.'

'Merlin Sadie I thought this would be easy,' Daphne joked making her best friend laugh.

'Hey you only get married once Daph,' Sadie said with a smile.

'Unless you're Blaise's Mother that is,' Daphne muttered making the others laugh.

'I'm going to try the last one on,' Sadie said and she disappeared once more.

When Sadie emerged wearing the last dress there was an awed silence.

'Is that good?' she asked nervously.

'Wow,' Daphne said. The final dress was absolutely stunning. The skirt was bigger than the last one but without being too big and puffy like the first dress had been. It was the only dress not to be strapless and it suited Sadie all the more for it. The bust was lace effect on top of the dress itself and the most beautiful part was the sleeves which came down to the elbow and made a simple dress looked beautifully elegant.

'You look great,' Hannah said with a smile.

'I really like this one,' Sadie admitted as she examined herself in the mirror, 'it's not too big or too small, just the right size.'

Susan and Hermione agreed that they loved the dress and after another 20 minutes of deliberation Sadie decided that it was the one that she wanted. She paid for it with Theo's elf as her fiancé had demanded, he wasn't letting her pay for any part of the wedding. Traditionally of course her Father would have paid for it but as he was in and out of Azkaban at the moment that wasn't going to happen. He hadn't even made it to her Graduation.

With the dress chosen they had a quick lunch and then hopped back into the shop to pick the bridesmaids dresses. Sadie decided on blue dresses to match the theme of the wedding, the boys had been ordered to get dress robes according to that colour too.

Thankfully it didn't take as long for the bridesmaid's dresses to be picked, tried on and tailored to fit. This time the roles were reversed as Sadie sat in the comfortable chairs waiting for her bridesmaids to emerge wearing their dresses.

'What do you think Sadie?' Daphne asked as she emerged first from the changing room.

'Yeah do we look good enough for your wedding?' Hermione asked with a chuckle as she emerged next followed by Susan and Hannah.

They all wore the same dress in two different colours. The dresses were strapless and summery, they were fairly long, but not quite floor length and fairly simple in style. Each dress had a ribbon beneath the bust. Susan and Hermione wore navy blue dresses with a pale blue ribbon and Daphne and Hannah wore pale blue dresses with a darker navy blue ribbon.

Sadie laughed at their sense of humour, 'you all look great,' she said happily.

With the dresses bought they still had a little time to spare so the girls decided to drop by the ice cream parlour before heading back to Grimmauld Place.

* * *

><p>'I suppose we should go now,' Theo said, glancing at the time.<p>

'Yeah,' Draco said as he stretched and got to his feet, they were relaxing in the chill/bar room after a swim.

Harry and Neville agreed and 10 minutes later they were dragging themselves down Diagon Alley to Madame Malkins.

'It's not that I'm not enthusiastic about the wedding,' Theo was saying to the others as they wandered along in the bright sunshine eating ice creams, 'I can't wait for the wedding, I just hate all of this,' he waved his ice cream around at the street, 'shopping for flowers, shopping for invitations and bloody lace tablecloths!'

'I think that's the part most men hate,' Harry pointed out with a smirk as they neared the shop.

Theo groaned, 'and now we have to spend the next couple of hours getting stabbed and picking the right colour to match the bloody bridesmaids dresses.'

This had Harry, Draco and Neville sniggering of course.

'I think I'll just ask Hannah if she wants to elope and go to Hawaii,' Neville joked as they finished their ice creams.

'I'd do the same if I thought for a second Daph would go for it,' Harry retorted.

'What about you Draco?' Neville asked, he was the only one to stay relatively quiet so far.

He smiled slightly, 'It's ironic actually, because Hermione and I…well there are a few people we really want at our wedding but neither of us have a lot of friends or family. We would never run off and elope, but we are having a nice little quiet wedding. It will be nowhere near the hassle of this.'

'Good for you mate,' Theo said, looking like he wished that was what Sadie had wanted. Harry had never seen Theo stressed out, not even through their N.E.W.T's but he was stressed out of his mind with this wedding.

'Can I help you with anything?'

Theo smiled at Madam Malkin, 'Yes, I'm looking for a set of dress robes this colour,' he said, handing her a fabric in the colour they had chosen, pale blue, 'and 4 sets of dress robes in this colour,' he handed her another piece of fabric in a dark navy blue.

'Of course,' she said with a smile, 'wedding is it?'

Theo nodded, 'Yeah, a very stressful one.'

Madam Malkin laughed and led them all into the back room where there were more podiums, 'I'll do the groom first,' she said as she held out the dress robes in the colour he had shown her and put them on Theo so she could tailor them to fit properly.

'So how much more do you need to do before Saturday?' Draco asked Theo from where he, Harry and Neville sat on the side-lines.

'Too much,' Theo replied with a sigh, 'we need to pick the rings up tomorrow from the jewellers, and I need to take Lacey to get her flower girl dress.'

'Who's going to be the pageboy again?' Harry asked as he propped his feet up on the arm of the chair Draco was sitting in.

'Uh Sadie's Nephew Oscar,' Theo replied, 'her brother Sorenson's kid.'

'Is Sorenson married?' Neville asked with a frown.

'Nah,' Theo answered with a slight smirk, 'he got a girl pregnant in 7th year, Oscar was the result.'

'What age is he?' Harry asked.

'He'll be 5 now, won't he?' Draco asked Theo who thought about this for a moment and then nodded, 'yeah, I need to get his dress robes sorted out too, that's Thursday,' he rolled his eyes.

'Have you paid the vicar?' Draco asked, ticking things off on a piece of parchment.

'Yeah, and we've got the Church booked,' Theo said, he was pretty organised despite what Sadie thought.

'You've booked the place for the reception too, haven't you?' Draco asked as he looked at his list.

'Yeah,' Theo said. He and Sadie were getting married at the little church in Hogsmeade, 'it's in the Three Broomsticks, the reception room upstairs.'

Draco ticked this off too, 'and you have the transport to the honeymoon sorted?'

'Yep,' Theo said quickly.

'And you've booked the honeymoon?'

'Course I have,' Theo said with a chuckle, '2 weeks in Paris.'

'Was that the first thing you booked?' Neville asked with a chuckle.

'Pretty much,' Theo admitted.

'Right,' Neville said, 'have you hired the photographer?'

'Yeah,' Harry said, 'I called in a freebie for him with Colin.'

'What about a band for the reception?'

'Yeah, hired the band that play the Christmas concerts in Hogsmeade,' Theo said, going through everything.

'Sadie's sorted out the cake hasn't she?' Harry asked.

Theo nodded, 'She sorted out the cake and hired the house elves for the food.'

'The invitations went out last month,' Draco mumbled, ticking this off of his list, 'have you got the rehearsal booked?'

'Yeah, 9am on Thursday,' Theo said as he got stabbed by Madam Malkin.

'And you've got the place names and the order of seating for the meal sorted?' Draco asked.

'Sadie's done that,' Theo said with a yawn.

'Well then I think you're pretty much set,' Draco said, folding up his piece of parchment.

'Thank Merlin,' Theo sighed.

'Alright you're done,' Madam Malkin said and Theo gratefully got off of the platform and let Madam Malkin start on the groomsmen's robes. Blaise couldn't make it because he was at St. Mungo's with Lavender for a check up on the baby so he had told Theo his measurements which he had given to Madam Malkin so she could fit his dress robes later in the week and Blaise could pick them up when he had time.

Still, even without Blaise it seemed to take forever for Draco, Harry and Neville to get their robes fitted and when they eventually left the shop with the robes in hanger bags to stop them from getting creased it was 5 minutes until 5pm, the time they had agreed to meet the girls back at Grimmauld Place for dinner.

They hurried up Diagon Alley to the Leaky Cauldron and apparated to the doorstep of Grimmauld Place hoping that the girls were running late.

When they walked into the informal dining room however it wasn't empty as they had hoped.

Daphne, Hermione, Sadie, Susan and Hannah were already seated waiting for the boys to show up.

'Oh there they are, 2 minutes late,' Daphne said with an amused smirk when they skulked in.

Sadie cocked her head at Theo, 'we _know _you didn't leave the house until about 3 hours ago.'

'What? How do you know that?' Theo asked, Harry and Draco rolled their eyes.

'They probably didn't know you idiot,' Draco said as he jokingly hit Theo over the back of the head, 'but you just confirmed it for them.'

'Exactly,' Daphne smirked.

'Bloody female logic,' Theo mumbled as he sat down at the table.

* * *

><p>By Thursday all of the outfits were in order, the rings were safely locked away in Sadie and Theo's bedroom, and the last minute things had been done. The rehearsal that morning went well so all that was left was the hen night and the stag night.<p>

'I can't believe I'm getting married tomorrow,' Sadie said, shaking her head in disbelief as she walked down a muggle street in London with Daphne's arm linked in her right arm and Hannah's linked in her left arm. Hermione and Susan were walking slightly behind the trio.

'I can't believe it either,' Daphne admitted, 'it's come around so fast.'

'It's kind of insane,' Sadie said, 'and I'm not just talking about my outfit,' she added with a chuckle.

Sadie was wearing a pink dress and had been decorated by her so-called friends with a pink feather boa, a cheap looking plastic tiara and a sash saying 'bride to be'. The other girls weren't any better with Daphne sporting devils ears and the others wearing bunny ears, they all had the same pink feather boas too. Daphne of course had been in charge of organising this so it was moderate in comparison to what she had expected.

'Are you going to tell me where we're going yet?' Sadie asked the others in amusement, it had been kept as a secret from her all week no matter how much she nagged at her friends to tell her.

'Nope, it's still a surprise,' Hannah said with a grin.

'What do you think the boys will do?' Sadie asked curiously. Behind her Susan and Hermione shared a glance.

'Oh nothing big,' Daphne lied, thankfully she was a fairly good liar, 'they will probably just go out for a few drinks at the Hogs Head.'

'Yeah you're probably right,' Sadie said.

'They aren't going for a few quiet drinks are they?' Susan asked Hermione in a whisper.

Hermione shook her head and whispered back, 'I have no idea what they _are _doing but I overheard them talking about going to watch Quidditch at the big stadium in Barcelona.'

'I overheard them a few days ago discussing the merits of strip clubs in Amsterdam,' Susan whispered.

'Was that Draco's idea or Harry's?' Hermione asked as she rolled her eyes.

'I think it was Neville's actually,' Susan said with a raised eyebrow.

'What are you two whispering about?' Sadie asked, turning to Hermione and Susan.

'Nothing,' Susan lied with a bright smile, 'we were just talking about where we're taking you.'

'Are we nearly there yet?' Sadie asked impatiently.

'We are here, and you are so bloody impatient,' Hannah said in amusement as she and Daphne dragged Sadie through a door with bright flashing lights above it.

'How do you think she'll react when she realises Daphne brought her to a muggle strip club?' Hermione asked Susan in an undertone as they followed them in.

'I'm sure we'll find out soon enough,' Susan chuckled and sure enough 5 minutes later after sitting down at a table close to the stage Sadie realised.

'Daphne you haven't,' Sadie said as she looked at the type of people in the club and glanced to the stage where the curtain was beginning to be drawn back.

Daphne tried her best to look innocent as Sadie looked at her in horror. The curtains were pulled back, revealing men in very little clothing doing provocative dances.

'You did!' Sadie said, shaking her head at her best friend.

'Have a drink,' Daphne said through her laughter, 'relax, unwind, enjoy yourself,' she winked which made Sadie blush bright pink.

* * *

><p>'So where are we going?' Neville asked Draco and Harry as he looked across at them, they were all dressed up for their stag night but still hadn't decided what to do. Blaise was absent, he was willing to be part of the wedding but with Lavender pregnant he was trying to look after her and didn't want to disappear on the stag night. Given the kind of things they had talked about that was probably a good thing.<p>

'Let's just go to Vegas,' Harry said with a smirk.

'Las Vegas?' Draco asked in disbelief, 'in America?'

'Aw come on, let's be spontaneous! It will be great!' Neville said, instantly on Harry's side.

'But what if something goes wrong and we're stuck there,' Draco said, 'this is Theo's wedding, we can't screw it up for him.'

'We won't screw anything up,' Harry said as he tried to convince Draco.

'Stop worrying about your boyfriend Draco,' Neville sniggered, 'the wedding doesn't start until 2pm tomorrow, we'll apparate back early tomorrow morning.'

'It will be fun Draco, come on,' Harry said with a grin, 'where's the Slytherin in you?'

'Alright fine,' Draco gave in with a smirk, 'I'm in, let's do this.'

'I'm pretty sure you were trying to surprise me,' a new voice said as Theo emerged grinning and holding an extendable ear, 'but I was kind of eavesdropping.'

Harry laughed at this, 'so what do you think?'

'I think Las Vegas here we come baby,' Theo said as he grinned broadly at his friends.

_**TBC **__** (Just…)**_

_**A/N – the next chap is the last! It's not quite an epilogue, more just the last chap with an epilogue like ending, but hope you enjoy it all the same. It will be up very soon!  
><strong>_

_**Thanks for reading!**_

_**Holly xxx**_


	65. Love & Marriage

**The 8th Year**

**Chapter 65 – Love & Marriage**

The next morning was a beautiful sunny one and the little Church that Sadie and Theo would marry in later that day looked beautiful and scenic in the summer weather. Sadie started getting ready early in the morning, as did her bridesmaids. They were up at the crack of dawn, had breakfast and some hangover potion, they had appointments for their hair and then they had a 10 minute break before the appointments for their make-up.

'It's time to head to the Church,' Daphne said with a smile as she looked at Sadie, now with her bridal hair and make-up all finished, 'we'll sort out the last minute things there.'

'Okay,' Sadie said, holding onto Daphne's arm to apparate.

'You seem nervous,' Daphne said.

'Oh I'm not nervous at all,' Sadie said sarcastically as together they spun and appeared outside the little Church in Hogsmeade. 5 minutes later she was sitting down in the back room of the Church with Daphne and her Mother staring into a mirror and trying not to throw up.

'In a few hours you will be Mrs. Sadie Nott,' Lotus, Sadie's Mother, was saying as she adjusted Sadie's hair which had been left down and curled.

'I know,' Sadie said, swallowing, 'I'm so nervous.'

'Don't be,' Daphne said with a smile, 'you and Theo are perfect. You have nothing to be nervous about.'

'Daphne's right,' Lotus said, 'everything will run smoothly and when it's over you'll be surprised it went so well.'

Sadie nodded, trying to believe this, 'Theo and the boys should be here by now shouldn't they?' she asked, she had the feeling something was wrong.

'Probably,' Daphne said, not giving away the fact she was slightly worried too, 'but don't worry about it, I'll get Hermione to go check it out.'

Daphne disappeared from the room to where Hermione, Susan and Hannah were getting ready next door, 'Mione, go check if the guys are here yet. They're half an hour late.'

'Is Sadie worried?' Hermione asked as she got to her feet.

'A little, but I'm trying to convince her its fine,' Daphne said quietly.

'Alright, I'll find them,' Hermione promised as she made her way outside of the church. She was just about to have a quick walk around to see if they were around the church somewhere when a loud crack made her jump.

Hermione turned around and rolled her eyes when she saw that Theo, Harry, Draco and Neville had just apparated outside of the Church. They were still dressed in their ordinary clothes although thankfully they were carrying the hanger bags with their wedding clothes in them.

The first sign that something was up for Hermione was the fact that all 4 of them were wearing sunglasses, even Harry who Hermione had _never _in all the years she had known him seen wear sunglasses.

'What happened?' Hermione asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

'Nothing, why would you ask?' Draco asked, but Hermione could tell that he was lying.

'Liar,' she said as she pulled his sunglasses off, his eyes were bright red and bloodshot, 'you're hungover, aren't you?'

'A little,' Draco said, but Hermione just raised an eyebrow at this.

'What?'

'You look like shit,' Hermione said simply, she grabbed the other boys glasses, 'you all do.'

'No screwing around,' Hermione said very seriously, 'somebody tell me what the hell happened last night.'

'It was Draco's fault,' Neville said, glancing at the Slytherin.

'No it wasn't,' Draco said defensively, 'Potter was the one that suggested Vegas!'

'You went to Las Vegas?' Hermione asked in an angry whisper.

'It was a stag night Mione,' Theo said, 'and you're not allowed to shout at me, it's my wedding day.'

Hermione shook her head in disbelief, 'come on, I'll sneak you in so Susan can sort you all out,' she said and the 4 boys followed her into the church like puppies.

'Merlin!' Susan exclaimed when they entered the side-room next to the room Sadie, Daphne and her Mother were in.

'Do we look that bad?'

'Yes,' Hermione, Susan and Hannah echoed.

'Do some glamour charms on them please Susan,' Hermione said with a sigh, 'Sadie would freak if she saw them like that.'

'What happened to you lot anyway?' Susan asked as she did a few glamour charms to sort out the bloodshot eyes and the big black marks under their eyes and their pale complexions.

'We went to Las Vegas,' Neville said with a yawn.

'That was stupid,' Hannah remarked as she cocked her head at her fiancé.

'It seemed like a good idea at the time,' Harry said defensively.

'I bet it did,' Susan said with a chuckle, 'your face is sorted Theo.'

'Take this,' Hermione said, she threw a vial of potion to Theo, 'hangover and sober up potion mixed, I'm still not sure which you are.'

'Thanks Mione,' Theo said as he swallowed the potion in one gulp.

'I had a feeling something like this might happen,' Hermione admitted, she was using her magically expanding beaded bag once more.

'Right best man you're next,' Susan said, pushing Draco into a seat and performing the same glamour charms.

'Is this what being a girl is like?' Draco whined.

'Yes, but you have to put up with whiny men,' Hannah teased which made Draco roll his eyes.

'We aren't all that bad,' Harry said, seeming to be the most sober and least hungover of them all. Hermione supposed his summer of drinking after the war might have been the reason.

'Just some of you,' Susan said with a chuckle, 'right you're done, Harry you next.'

'Why am I last?' Neville asked.

'Because you look like you're going to spew on me, Hermione give him some potion before you send him near me,' Susan said, wrinkling her nose at Neville.

'Sure,' Hermione said, passing potions to Draco and Neville which they both drank quickly. Neville started to look better instantly.

'Nev has the weakest stomach,' Harry said with a chuckle as Susan fixed his face up.

'Okay you're done, come on Neville you next,' Susan said, motioning for Neville to join her.

Looking much less like he would throw up Neville sat down across from Susan who expertly performed the glamour charms.

The 4 boys were all looking much more respectable now.

'The wedding starts in an hour and a half so get changed you lot,' Hermione said, leaving the room to tell the others the boys had arrived. She knocked on the door and popped her head in, 'the boys are here, they are just getting ready now.'

'Perfect,' Sadie said with a sigh of relief, 'thanks Hermione.'

'No problem,' Hermione said as she disappeared from the room once more.

* * *

><p>'I'm just going to check over the ceremony arrangements with the vicar sweetheart, I'll be back soon,' Sadie's Mother said as she kissed her daughter on the cheek.<p>

'Okay, thanks Mum,' Sadie said with a smile.

Her Mother left the room, leaving Sadie alone with Daphne.

'You look terrified,' Daphne said with a small smile.

'I am,' Sadie admitted sheepishly, 'it's all happened so fast my brain is just catching up.'

'If this is how you're reacting imagine how scared Theo is,' Daphne joked which made Sadie laugh.

'I think everyone must feel scared on their wedding day,' Sadie mused thoughtfully, 'but I think it's more nerve-wracking when you've written your own vows.'

'I think it's really nice,' Daphne said as she put Sadie's veil on for her, 'and I think you and Theo are perfect for each other. You might have tried to hide it for years Sadie but Tracey and me always knew you liked Theo, and his complete undying love for you was pretty obvious too from about 2nd year.'

Sadie smiled, but it wasn't an entirely happy smile, 'I wish she was here today Daph, it should be the three of us in here…'

'I know,' Daphne said, fixing Sadie's veil in place and hugging her friend, 'but she's watching from somewhere.'

'I like to think the same,' Sadie admitted, wiping her tears before they could roll down her face and ruin her make-up, 'I always thought when I dreamed about my wedding day…I knew you would be my Maid of Honour but I just always thought that Tracey and Pansy would be my bridesmaids.'

'War changes everything Sadie,' Daphne said as she sat down next to her friend, 'and I miss them too, I miss my Father…but look at how things are, we're both happy and alive.'

'And that's what matters,' Sadie said with a smile, 'thanks Daphne, I don't know where I'd be without you.'

'Sad and lonely,' Daphne said with a smile, she was quite sad too, she could just imagine Tracey being here, she could almost hear her in the room.

'Are you nearly ready to go?' Daphne asked and with a slightly pale face Sadie nodded.

'I'll go get the girls then,' Daphne said with a smile, she disappeared from the room and popped her head in next door where thankfully all of the boys were ready.

'How you doing Theo?' Daphne asked, Theo was pacing up and down the room.

'Nervous,' Theo admitted, something that he didn't admit to very often.

'So is your soon to be Wife,' Daphne said, walking into the room and patting Theo on the shoulder, 'don't worry about it.'

'We've been trying to tell him this,' Harry said with a smile, 'but nothing seems to work.'

'I'll be fine, I just want to get started,' Theo said, wringing his hands.

'Good,' Daphne said, turning to the girls, 'because I'm collecting the bridesmaids so we can get started.'

'We're ready,' Hermione said, getting to her feet followed by Hannah and Susan.

'See you in the church Theo,' Daphne said, kissing him on the cheek. Theo nodded and the girls disappeared from the room.

* * *

><p>'Theo, sit down,' Neville said in amusement, watching his friend pace.<p>

'You're going to wear a hole in the floor,' Harry added with an amused chuckle. They were gathered in this little room, waiting for it to be time to move into the church.

'What if she runs away? What if she doesn't want to marry me? What if she's realised I'm not any good for her?' Theo asked, spouting all of this off very quickly.

'Theo, she realised you weren't any good for her a long time ago and she's still marrying you,' Draco said with a smirk as Harry and Neville sniggered at the state Theo was in.

'Are you sure?' Theo asked, and Draco nodded, putting his arm around his best friends shoulder, 'stop worrying. Sadie loves you, she's not going to run away.'

'She probably thinks you're going to make a run for it,' Neville joked which made Theo glare at him.

'She should know I'd never do that,' Theo said softly, sitting down for the first time, 'I've been in love with her since the moment I saw her.'

'How did you meet?' Harry asked with a smile, Theo and Sadie were perfect for each other.

'Yeah, did you know each other before Hogwarts?' Neville asked curiously.

Theo shook his head, still smiling, 'Nah, we met on the Hogwarts Express…'

'_What are you freaking about Draco? Obviously we're going to be in Slytherin, look at our family histories, it's our legacy,' an 11 year old Theo was saying to an 11 year old, rather scared looking Draco._

'_But what if I'm sorted into Gryffindor or something?' Draco asked anxiously._

'_You won't be,' Theo said, patting his friend on the shoulder, 'you've got Slytherin written all over you.'_

_The two boys were walking up the Hogwarts Express searching for a compartment._

'_Come on,' Theo said, 'we'll ask these two if we can sit with them.'_

_He pointed to a carriage with two blonde-haired girls in it and pushed the door open, 'hey, do you girls mind if we sit with you? Everywhere else is full.'_

'_Sure,' the girls said in unison. They looked very alike._

'_Thanks,' Draco said as he followed Theo in and pulled the doors shut, 'I'm Dr-'_

'_Draco Malfoy,' one of the girls said, 'I know, my Mother knows your parents.'_

'_Oh,' Draco said as he sat down across from her._

'_Daphne Greengrass,' she said, extending her hand to Draco who took it and shook it._

'_I'm Theo Nott,' Theo said as he sat down heavily next to Draco, 'but you probably knew that too.'_

'_Never heard of you actually,' Daphne said, making Draco snigger._

'_Shut up you,' Theo said, nudging his best friend, 'I'm sure you're mistaken. My family are very influential.'_

'_Not influential enough clearly,' Daphne said with a smirk._

'_Daph don't be so rude,' the second girl said, speaking up for the first time._

'_Yeah Daph, Merlin you're so rude,' Theo said, shaking his head and tutting mockingly._

'_Theo Nott,' Theo said, shaking the other girl's hand._

'_Sadie Cauldwell,' she said with a smile, and Theo felt something then that he couldn't explain, he smiled broadly at the girl and for the rest of the train journey he talked to her, learning as much as he could about her._

'You know, that story has many parallels with how Severus Snape met my Mother,' Harry said with a smile, after hearing Theo recount how he first met Sadie, 'only sadly it didn't end so happily.'

Theo smiled, 'I guess I should think myself lucky then, not that I don't already mind you,' he said as he gazed at the wall looking like his mind was far away.

'Have you ever seen him like this?' Harry asked Neville in an undertone, his fellow Gryffindor shook his head looking bemused.

'I have,' Draco said quietly, 'this is how Sadie has always made him.'

'I think this is how my parents were,' Harry said, revealing something to his friends that he had only ever told himself before, 'I think Sadie and Theo's relationship is really similar to my parents.'

'Without the war and a scummy rat I think you're right,' Neville said with a smile, 'I think they are a perfect example of how your parents should have been.'

'Alright you two the time for being sentimental is over,' Draco said as he glanced at the clock, 'time to get to the Church Theo.'

Theo nodded, looking incredibly nervous.

'Stop worrying,' Draco said to his best friend as they walked out of the door together and it made them both smile as they remembered that first train to Hogwarts. The parallel of that day with Draco freaking out and Theo calming him down with today was almost amusing but it was also nostalgic and it made Draco realise that after today everything would change, Theo would be a married man.

As the two friends walked down the corridor to the entrance to the church Harry, Neville and Blaise (who had just appeared, almost out of the woodwork) followed them. They reached the door and walked into the Church, it wasn't small or large, just a good size and seated around 100 people. There were already some guests seated in the front few rows and more with filing in as Draco steered Theo into position by the altar.

'She's going to turn up right?'

'Of course she is,' Draco said, placing his hand on Theo's shoulder.

Theo scanned the crowd, and his eyes eventually fell on his step-Mother who was in the front row on her own. Lacey would be sitting next to her later but she was outside with the bridal party at the moment because she was the flower girl.

Salvadora Nott had never felt like a true Mother to Theo because he had always missed his real Mother who he had lost very young, but in that moment she seemed to sense something was wrong and got to her feet.

'Stop worrying,' Salvadora said when she reached Theo, 'you know how crazy Sadie is for you, she isn't going to run away.'

Theo nodded, somehow believing her more than he did Draco, 'Thanks…Mum,' Theo said, something he was fairly sure he had never called her.

Salvadora was shocked by this, and it showed, but she smiled, her eyes a little watery, 'that's what family is for,' she said, hugging Theo briefly, something she had also never done, 'try not to look so terrified.'

Theo nodded as she made her way back to her seat.

* * *

><p>'Alright Sadie we're ready when you are,' Hermione said from where she, Hannah and Susan were holding her train.<p>

'I'm as ready as I'll ever be,' Sadie admitted as she grabbed Daphne's arm.

Daphne chuckled and linked her arm through her best friends, 'We'll move now then before you change your mind,' she joked as she held the door open and helped Sadie through it.

'Don't worry, I'd never change my mind about marrying Theo,' Sadie said, smiling as they walked down the long corridor in the opposite direction of the way Theo and the boys had walked. It seemed to take forever but eventually they reached a little hallway area in between the doors from the outside and the doors to the actual chapel part of the church.

Waiting in the area were Sorenson who was walking Sadie down the aisle, Oscar and Lacey, the pageboy and flower girl. She was almost too old to be the flower girl having just turned 12 but all the same she was happy to do it. Oscar looked incredibly adorable in his little navy blue dress robes.

'You look beautiful sis,' Sorenson said, hugging Sadie and linking his arm through hers.

'Thanks,' Sadie said a little shakily as she got into position ready to enter the church.

'Deep breaths Sadie,' Daphne whispered from behind her, placing her hand on her shoulder, 'we've got a couple of minutes until it's time to go in.'

Sadie nodded, closing her eyes and going to her happy place…the moment she realised she was in love with Theo…

'_Sadie!'_

_Sadie looked up, feeling exhausted and ill. _

'_Theo,' she said quietly, full of relief as he hurried towards her._

'_What did they do to you?' Theo asked angrily as he cut the ties binding her._

'_Nothing,' Sadie lied, 'how did you get in here?'_

_Sadie had been in a locked room in the dark tower and ties had been binding her hands and feet together._

'_Draco and Blaise distracted the Carrows,' Theo said, helping Sadie to her feet, 'and I ran up to get you, but we don't have much time.'_

'_Ah!' Sadie cried out when she tried to put her foot down on the ground._

'_Is it broken?' Theo asked, and Sadie shook her head, 'I don't know,' she admitted._

_Without a second thought Theo lifted Sadie up in his arms and rushed down the spiral stairs as fast as he could so that they could escape before the Carrows came back and Sadie didn't even worry about him falling. In that moment for the first time she trusted him completely. _

'_Where's Pansy?' Sadie asked as she tried desperately hard to keep her eyes open._

'_She got out last night, snuck out while the Carrows were doing the rounds,' Theo explained when they reached the bottom of the stairs. _

_Theo pressed his finger against Sadie's lips as they heard voices in the corridor. Quickly he pulled them both into a broom cupboard and carefully shut the door and placed Sadie down on her good foot._

_They were pressed very closely together in the broom cupboard and even in her exhausted state of mind Sadie blushed slightly with embarrassment. They held their breath as the voices passed them and ascended the stairs, it was the Carrows and in a few minutes they would realise that Sadie was gone. _

'_Come on,' Theo whispered, opening the door and lifting Sadie up effortlessly once more. They emerged on the main 6__th__ floor corridor and rushed through the thankfully deserted area to the central tower which acted as a shortcut to where they needed to go. Theo didn't seem to be struggling with carrying Sadie's weight as he carefully but quickly made his way down the spiral staircase to the bottom where two large double doors stood ajar._

'_There you are,' Draco hissed from where he was keeping guard outside of the doors, 'you took longer than expected.'_

'_I think Sadie has broken something,' Theo said, still holding her, 'she can't walk.'_

'_Come on then,' Draco said, leading them out of the central tower onto the 2__nd__ floor corridor, 'we need to get her back so Trace can look her over.'_

_Theo nodded, 'don't worry,' he whispered to Sadie, 'we'll be back soon.'_

_Sadie and Theo had been friends for years, but something different had been developing throughout the war and his concern for her today made Sadie realise that she might be falling in love with him. _

_The trio rushed along the 2__nd__ floor corridor and made their way through a locked door which Draco made sure to lock behind them. The corridor was flooded and water came up to their knees but they were used to this and waded through it into their hide-out, a disused bathroom that they had cleared out and used as a place to sleep where the Carrows couldn't find them. _

'_Sadie!' Daphne called out, looking anxious as Theo put Sadie down on one of the makeshift beds, 'what happened?'_

'_She might of broken something, I had to carry her here,' Theo said, sitting down next to Sadie and kissing her on the cheek, 'you're safe now,' he whispered and in that moment just before she passed out Sadie looked at Theo and thought to herself…I want to marry him…_

'Stop daydreaming sis,' Sorenson said, nudging his sister slightly and smiling at her, 'it's time.'

Sadie took yet another deep breath as the double doors began to open. She saw the Church, filled with guests, and then at the end of the aisle she saw Theo, looking pale and terrified.

The music began to play and Sadie began to walk forward, her eyes were locked on Theo. It was as if she was gliding towards him and all of her thoughts and worries about today completely left her head.

Theo had imagined for the last month what Sadie would look like today, but when the doors opened and she began to walk down that aisle his breath caught in his throat because she looked more beautiful than he could have imagined in his deepest dreams. Her hair flowed over her shoulders, her veil covering her face but not concealing her smile, she looked like an angel, and her dress was absolutely perfect for her, Sadie hadn't been kidding when she said that she found the perfect dress.

He barely noticed the rest of the bridal party but his best man and groomsmen did.

To Harry, Daphne looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her in the dress Sadie had chosen, it was one of the few times she left her hair down and natural rather than fixing it to be curlier or straighter instead of its naturally waviness.

To Draco, Hermione looked equally as beautiful, he was used to seeing her with her hair pulled up out of the way or left bushy, but today it had been loosely curled and it looked beautiful.

To Neville, Hannah looked amazing wearing the bridesmaid dress because Hannah didn't really wear dresses as often as the other girls did. Her hair was unusual too because it was almost always poker straight, but today it was curly, just like Hermione and Susan's hair. Neville looked away from Hannah to see Theo's reaction and realised that Theo hadn't started breathing yet, he rolled his eyes and nudged Harry.

Harry frowned but realised what Neville meant so nudged Blaise and pointed to Theo.

Blaise nodded and nudged Draco who frowned and looked around only then realising what was going on.

Draco nudged Theo gently, making him gasp, 'breathe you fool, you don't want to faint on your wedding day,' he whispered jokingly into his best friends ear.

'Thanks Draco,' Theo whispered, concentrating now on breathing.

Neville and Harry glanced at each other and rolled their eyes in amusement.

Theo hadn't been able to take his eyes away from Sadie as she drifted down the aisle, in his mind it was in slow motion but she eventually reached him and when she did she grinned broadly at him.

'I'm proud of you sis,' Sorenson whispered as he took Sadie's hand and placed it in Theo's as tradition stated, he lifted her veil and kissed her on the cheek before taking his seat next to their Mother, Lotus, in the front row who looked like she was crying already.

Sadie beamed at Theo as she gripped his hand tightly. Lacey and Oscar sat down at the front of the church for the moment and Daphne, Hermione, Hannah and Susan all stood next to Sadie, smiling at the groomsmen on the other side.

'Ladies and Gentlemen,' the vicar, a short man with a large moustache, said, 'you are welcomed here today to witness the marriage of Theodore Roosevelt Nott and Sadie Cauldwell.'

Theo glanced around at his groomsmen, expecting them to chuckle or smirk at his name, but they were all smiling. He chuckled on the inside, thinking to himself, _this is probably the only time they won't laugh at my name_.

'Today Theodore and Sadie will be united in body and soul for life,' the vicar said, smiling at the young, happy couple who appeared to be almost glowing with happiness.

'I must now ask if any man can show just cause as to why Theodore and Sadie may not be lawfully joined together. Let him speak now, or forever hold his peace,' the vicar said, pausing to see if anyone objected.

There was silence and so the vicar continued, 'Do you Theodore Roosevelt Nott, and you Sadie Cauldwell, promise to comfort, honour, protect and be faithful to each other for as long as you both may live?'

'I do,' Theo said, not taking his eyes away from Sadie's.

'I do,' Sadie said quietly, but loud enough for it to be acknowledged.

'Then I would ask you to give your vows to one another,' the vicar said with a smile.

Sadie and Theo then turned to face each other and entwined both of their hands. They had chosen to make their vows a mixture of traditional and personal. The personal would come first.

'Sadie, I have never told you this,' Theo began with his voice shaking only a little, 'but throughout my darkest days during the war you were the guiding light that saved me from the darkness that might have overwhelmed me,' he took a deep breath, 'throughout the month I spent imprisoned I thought of you, I thought of seeing your face again and seeing your smile,' he paused for a breath once more, 'the healers said it was a miracle that I lived, but I wasn't the miracle, you were. You saved my life then and you made me realise how blind I had been in not seeing that I was crazily in love with you.'

Sadie by this point was crying slightly, wiping her tears with her finger so as not to smudge her make-up.

'I want to thank you for saving my life, but I also want to promise that the love I felt then will never fade and I will give you all of me for as long as I live,' Theo finished, looking slightly emotional himself.

All of the girls were crying, and even Draco looked a little teary.

Sadie had to take a moment to compose herself as her Mother, and Theo's Step-Mother both sniffed and clutched handkerchiefs in the front row.

'Theo,' Sadie began, 'I realised I was in love with you when you saved me during the war, I was close to giving up when you walked in and carried me to safety,' it was strange really, how they both talked about the war without previously discussing their vows, 'I've never told you this, but that day just before I passed out I couldn't help but think to myself, I want to marry him someday,' there was an 'aww' from the audience and Sadie's Mother sobbed louder.

'There were so many times after that day that I could have given up, but I didn't because I remembered that thought and each day that passed convinced me more that it might truly happen one day. I lost a lot from the war, but ultimately I gained you from it and that made every sacrifice worth it,' Sadie's voice was shaking slightly as she got emotional, 'so I promise Theo to love you for every day of my life and to cherish every moment that we spend together.'

Theo was actually in tears, although he tried very hard to hide it, but those closest to him saw. Sadie's hands were shaking in Theo's as she finished speaking and took a shaky breath.

The vicar looked like he might burst into tears too as he moved onto the traditional part of the vows, 'Do you Theodore Roosevelt Nott take Sadie Cauldwell to have and to hold from this day forward? For better, for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish until death do you part?'

'I do,' Theo said, his voice rough with emotion.

'And do you Sadie Cauldwell take Theodore Roosevelt Nott to have and to hold from this day forward? For better, for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish until death do you part?'

'I do,' Sadie said softly, not able to stop her happy tears now.

With a helpful hand from Sorenson, Oscar walked forwards, holding a pillow with the rings on it.

'Place the ring on Sadie's finger Theodore,' the vicar said as Theo picked up Sadie's wedding ring which was a simple gold band with diamonds set around the edge. His hands shook a little as he placed the ring on Sadie's finger and slid it into place.

'And would you please place the ring on Theodore's finger Sadie?' the vicar asked. Sadie's hands were also shaking as she slid Theo's simple golden band onto his finger.

'I am now delighted to pronounce you man and wife,' the vicar said with a beam, 'you may now kiss the bride!'

All of their friends and family cheered as Sadie and Theo kissed, it was the best and most emotional kiss they had ever shared together. The only kiss that rivalled it was one that Theo couldn't remember and that Sadie had only told him about months later…

'_Draco please!' Sadie begged, 'I have to go, please.'_

_Theo had now been imprisoned in the dark tower for a month by the Carrow's for saving Luna Lovegood's life when she had been caught trying to get food for her and the others working for the light. _

'_Fine,' Draco relented, 'but if you get hurt or…something else happens we warned you.'_

'_She'll be fine,' Daphne said, glaring slightly at Draco, 'she's a good fighter you just never give her the chance to show it.'_

'_Then she can show it tonight,' Draco said shortly, 'come on we __**need **__to go now or we have no chance of helping him.'_

_Daphne nodded and she, Draco, Sadie and Blaise left their secret bathroom hide-out, waded through the flooded corridor, rushed along the 2__nd__ floor corridor and entered the central tower._

'_Sadie you can guard the tower,' Draco commanded, but Sadie shook her head, '__**No **__Draco, he saved me and now I'm doing the same for him.'_

_Draco opened his mouth to argue when Daphne cut in, 'I'll stay here, I'm best at revealing charms.'_

_Draco glanced at her but nodded, 'I'd stay but I need to help Pansy-'_

'_I understand,' Daphne said with a nod. _

'_Right come on you two,' Draco said to Blaise and Sadie. The three of them made their way up the central tower as fast as they could. Sadie had never been allowed on these rescue missions before so this was new to her, the last time she had been on this staircase Theo had been carrying her in his arms. _

'_Alright we need someone to guard this end of the tower,' Draco said when they reached the top, 'and I've got a feeling little miss perfect is going to refuse.'_

'_Draco you're saving Pansy because you're in love with her aren't you?' Sadie hissed which surprised Draco, but he nodded._

'_I'm in love with Theo and I don't care if he doesn't notice me or have any idea about the way I feel, but I __**am **__going in there and I'm going to save him. I won't let him die,' Sadie said intensely, staring into Draco's eyes._

'_Okay you made your case,' Draco said with a small almost proud smile, 'Blaise stand guard.'_

_Blaise nodded and pulled out his wand, Draco turned to Sadie, 'come on then warrior princess.'_

_Sadie didn't smile, she couldn't, not when Theo was in danger. She knew he could be dead up there by now but she was trying not to think about this possibility. They hurried along the 6__th__ floor corridor which wasn't so deserted as it was meant to be. The Carrow's were gone, they were with Voldemort attending to Death Eater business but in their place they had left Filch and Mrs. Norris to guard the tower._

_Draco had barely raised his wand when Filch and his cat were both lying stiff on the ground, not dead but frozen. He turned in surprise to Sadie who was holding her wand and glaring at them._

'_Petrificus Totalus,' Draco mumbled as he looked at the frozen bodies, 'you can do speechless magic,' Draco said as he led the way to the staircase, 'impressive.'_

'_Told you I could be useful,' Sadie said as she ran up the staircase after Draco. In minutes they reached the top of the tower where about 10 cells were located. All with cast-iron doors and spells that stopped magic being used inside. It was like Azkaban without Dementors._

'_You get Theo, I'll find Pansy,' Draco said as he rushed to the far end and started pulling open the cell doors, most were unlocked and empty but then he found a locked one and started trying to unlock it._

_Sadie did the same, starting at the opposite end. She yanked open all of the doors until she reached Draco, only two cells were occupied and they were right next to each other. _

'_Theo!' Sadie called through the gap in the door._

'_Sadie!' a weak voice called back, 'is that you?'_

'_It's me, I'm going to break you out, stay away from the door,' Sadie called._

'_Okay,' Theo called back._

_Sadie waited for a moment and then pointed her wand at the door, 'Bombarda!'_

_There was a small explosion at the base of the door which was enough to force it from its hinges and it fell backwards into the cell. _

_Sadie rushed in when the smoke cleared and found Theo sitting on the floor at the back of the cell, he looked exhausted and weak like he hadn't eaten for days but he was alive._

'_I'm so glad you're okay,' Sadie whispered, drinking in his features, she had worried she might never see him again._

'_Me too,' Theo said with a small smile._

_Sadie leant forward and caught his lips in a gentle, soft and passionate kiss. After that he fainted and Sadie had to levitate him back to their hide-out. When he woke up the next day he couldn't remember a thing, not even the kiss._

'I love you,' Theo whispered, kissing Sadie once more.

'I love you too,' Sadie beamed, looking out at their friends and family who were clapping, cheering and crying.

They linked their arms and walked down the aisle out of the church followed by the rest of the procession.

The Maid of Honour and the Best Man followed arm in arm.

'That was beautiful,' Daphne said, wiping her eyes.

'I never thought it would be that emotional,' Draco admitted with a small smile.

'It's interesting that they both talked about the war,' Daphne mused.

'Not really,' Draco said with a smile, 'it's how they fell in love after all. I remember Sadie that day when we saved Theo, I'd never seen her so passionate before.'

'She proved herself to you that day,' Daphne remembered, 'you loved taking her on the rescue missions after that.'

'She was good,' Draco said simply, both of them smiling.

'Do you think we'll ever tell Harry and Hermione about those days?' Daphne asked, their rescue missions saving those on the side of the light and trying not to get killed themselves by the Carrow's in their 7th year had never been discussed with their fiancé's.

'One day I think we will,' Draco admitted, 'but everyone has secrets.'

Daphne chuckled and agreed with this.

Behind Daphne and Draco the other bridesmaids and groomsmen walked arm in arm, Blaise with Susan then behind them Hannah and Neville, and after them Harry and Hermione.

'Who would have thought we would have been this emotional over the wedding of two Slytherins,' Harry said to Hermione who was still wiping her eyes a little.

'The war changed a lot,' Hermione said simply, 'but I didn't realise how much it changed things for the Slytherins, let alone us.'

'I think they were fighting their own battle in Hogwarts while we were fighting ours across the country,' Harry said thoughtfully.

'Do you think Daphne and Draco will ever talk to us about it?' Hermione asked Harry curiously.

'I think one day they might,' Harry said, 'do you think we'll ever tell them everything we went through in the war?'

'I'm not sure,' Hermione admitted with a frown, 'maybe one day.'

'Maybe,' Harry said as they reached the doors to the church, 'but everyone has to have secrets.'

Behind Harry and Hermione Lacey helped Oscar walk from the church. Traditionally the bride's Mother and the grooms Father should have followed, but as Theo's Father wasn't here and he didn't have much family Lotus walked from the church on her own. Bringing up the rear was supposed to the groom's mother and the bride's father but Sadie's Father wasn't here so

Salvadora walked from the church arm in arm with Sorenson instead.

When the procession had left the church it was time for pictures which took about half an hour. There were some of the bride and groom alone and others with just Sadie's family or just Theo's, then there were pictures with both families and pictures with the bridesmaids and pictures with the groomsmen.

Eventually it was time to move on. Sadie and Theo got into a horse-drawn carriage to take them to the venue for the meal and reception, the Three Broomsticks. It was a short 10 minute walk so the others all joined together and walked together, discussing how beautiful the ceremony had been.

* * *

><p>When the bridesmaids, groomsmen and the rest of the general 'bridal party' arrived at the Three Broomsticks they were led upstairs to a large reception room with lots of long tables set up for the meal. Sadie and Theo were both waiting for them outside, still beaming happily.<p>

All of the other guests were already seated when the bridal party were announced and allowed in to their seats at the top table.

There were two seats left in the middle once everyone was seated for Sadie and Theo. Next to where Sadie would sit Sorenson was seated and next to where Theo would sit Lotus was seated. On Sorenson's other side was Salvadora and on Lotus's other side would have been where Theo's Father should have been sitting, instead Lacey sat there. Next to Lacey was Daphne and next to Salvadora on the other side was Draco.

At the table nearest the top table Hermione, Susan, Hannah, Harry, Neville and Blaise were all seated.

'Ladies and gentlemen,' Madam Rosmerta said loudly from the doorway, 'please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Nott!'

There was much cheering as Sadie and Theo walked in together hand in hand and took their seats in the centre of the top table.

Sorenson then stood and clicked a spoon against a glass to get everyone's attention. The room fell silent and Sorenson smiled at everyone with ease, being an Auror he was used to public appearances and seemed in his element, 'I would like to thank everyone for coming today. Traditionally of course this would be our Father's job, but as he can't be here today I would instead like to welcome you all to the meal and reception, I hope you all enjoy yourself.'

Sorenson sat back down with a smile and squeezed Sadie's hand, she was still slightly upset about the fact that her Father was locked up in Azkaban instead of here at her wedding.

Harry had attempted to do for Sadie and Theo as he had for Draco, but even he hadn't been able to pull any strings with the Ministry. Sadie's Father was in Azkaban for the murder of 3 innocent Muggles, the Ministry had been unable to release him even on compassionate grounds.

After Sorenson had opened the meal as it were the orders were taken and the first course served. At the smaller table in front of the top table the friends talked amongst themselves as they ate.

'Trust Theo and Sadie to have great food at their wedding,' Harry said with a chuckle as he tucked in.

'It's almost as good as the stuff they serve at the Ministry Balls,' Neville agreed, looking like he was enjoying the food immensely.

Hermione rolled her eyes at her two friends, 'Is food all men care about?'

'Not entirely,' Neville said, but Hannah shook her head, 'I disagree with that,' she joked.

'It felt like a fairytale wedding today, didn't it?' Hermione asked with a smile.

'Yeah,' Hannah said as she glanced up at Sadie and Theo, 'I felt like I was in a story book.'

'I wouldn't know,' Harry said with a chuckle, 'I never did read them as a kid.'

'I have no idea what Muggle fairy tales are like,' Susan admitted in amusement, 'everyone dies at the end of Beedle the Bards tales, unless you read the Beatrix Bloxam versions with their sickly happy endings.'

'That's pretty much what Muggle fairy tales are like,' Hermione admitted with a sheepish smile, 'the girl always gets the prince and they all live happily ever after.'

'That's stupid,' Neville mused, 'all that's teaching young girls is to wait and do nothing and you'll get a prince.'

'I know,' Harry agreed, 'at least Beedle's tales have morals behind them that teach kids things.'

'Beedle the Bards tales teach life lessons,' Blaise spoke up, he had barely said anything all day as he watched the proceedings quietly, 'they teach that death is as much a part of life as birth is. They teach that desire and ambition are not always good traits, but ultimately they teach that with determination and a pure heart you can achieve anything in life.'

'Wow,' Harry said, and the others were all equally stunned.

'That was pretty deep Blaise,' Hermione said with a smile.

Blaise shrugged and went back to his soup, leaving the others stunned into silence.

Shortly after their discussion about fairy tales the first course was finished and the plates vanished from the tables. The orders were then taken for the main course and while the food was being prepared downstairs by the house elves it was time for the speeches.

First Sorenson stood up to give a speech, traditionally it would have been Sadie's Father giving a speech at this moment in time, but Sorenson was doing so instead.

'When I first met Theodore Nott,' Sorenson began, and Theo chuckled under his breath, he clearly knew what was coming, 'he was an irritating 12 year old boy who came to our house for my sister's 12th birthday party. He was hyperactive, cocky and an annoying git,' Sorenson said, getting chuckles from the crowd, 'in the space of an hour he had scared away our pet Clabbert, wrecked our garden and accidentally set fire to the tent we were having the party in,' more chuckling at this, and most of it came from the table where Harry and Neville were sitting.

'I swore when he left the house that day, and my Mother did too, that there was no way we'd be seeing him again,' Sorenson said, shaking his head in amusement, 'but Sadie continued to be friends with him and we put up with it because she seemed happy. I remember the day I really began to appreciate that friendship. I was at work and received a letter from Theo that said my sister was in trouble, she had been captured helping those working for the light in Hogwarts during the war. He told me not to worry, that he would get her out, and that he felt I ought to know. I didn't believe him, but two days later I got a letter from Sadie saying she was okay, that Theo had gotten her out. From that moment forward I haven't thought of Theodore Nott as the idiotic child wreaking havoc in my back garden. Instead I think of him as the heroic man who saved my sisters life and for that reason he deserves Sadie as his Wife more than anyone else ever could.'

Sadie was a little teary as Sorenson sat down to cheers and clapping, she wrapped her arms around her brother, 'thanks Sorenson,' she said softly because it was one of the first signs he had given her to acknowledge that he was happy for her to be with Theo.

The next speech was going to be by Draco who looked a little nervous as he got to his feet to give it.

'Theo's my best friend, we've known each other since we were little kids,' Draco began with a small smile, 'I remember growing up how he swore he would never get married. He used to bang on all the time about how marriage was pointless and how he'd never meet anyone who would make the hassle seem worth it,' he shook his head in amusement, 'but then we got on the Hogwarts Express together to go to Hogwarts and start our 1st year. We ended up sharing a carriage with two girls, one of whom was Sadie,' Draco was still smiling as he continued, 'I knew from the moment he ditched me to talk to her for the whole journey that he might have found that one person who would make him change all of his views. He didn't realise it straight away, in fact it took him far longer than it should have to realise, but during the war when he realised how close he was to losing Sadie he realised how much she meant to him,' he paused for a breath, Sadie was still crying and now Theo looked teary too.

'I love Theo like a brother, I always have, and seeing him as happy as he is with Sadie makes me happy because I know now he'll be alright. I've always worried about him being alone for the rest of his life because of his old attitude to marriage, but now I know he's got someone who loves him and cares for him, and I know that will never change,' Draco's voice broke a little, 'and that makes me happier than words can describe.'

There was much cheering as Draco sat down and took a large gulp of mulled wine.

'Aw,' Harry whispered to Neville at the table in front of the top table, 'I think he's finally realising he's letting go of his man lover.'

Neville sniggered and Hermione shot Harry a glare which said 'shut up or else' so Harry quickly shut his mouth.

Up at the top table it was time for the final speech, the Maid of Honours. Daphne got to her feet, looking a tiny bit nervous but not anywhere near as much as Draco had.

'Well I never thought we'd get to this moment,' Daphne admitted with a chuckle, 'I've known Sadie since before we started Hogwarts and she was always a fairly quiet person with a hidden sneaky, mischievous side,' Sadie was smiling at Daphne's speech so far, 'when Theo walked into our compartment in the Hogwarts Express that day, like Draco, I knew it was the start of something,' Daphne said with a smile, 'but she refused to see what everyone else saw for years until eventually during the war she realised that what everyone had been telling her was right, she was totally mad for Theo.'

Theo was smirking at this, and Sadie shaking her head in amusement, they were both just so happy.

'It took even longer for them to both admit to each other how they actually felt mind you,' Daphne said, rolling her eyes and getting chuckles from the crowd, 'but I am so glad that they did. I never thought _anyone _would be able to tame Theodore Nott, but if anyone can I know it's Sadie. She's probably the only person he listens too, and trusts completely, apart from Draco of course,' this caused another wave of chuckles as Theo winked at Draco.

'I think Sadie and Theo complement each other perfectly and I've never been happier for Sadie,' Daphne finished, smiling at her best friend as she took her seat to cheers and claps.

As everyone calmed down from the speeches the main course was served and Harry and Neville spent most of it discussing how amazing the food was which caused much eye-rolling from the girls, especially when Susan joined in.

* * *

><p>'What do you think they'll dance too?'<p>

'Something wizarding I suspect,' Hannah said as she stood with Hermione drinking from a glass of wine as the tables were cleared away to make way for the dance floor.

'I haven't heard much wizarding music you know,' Hermione mused, 'even though I've been a part of this world for so long.'

'There isn't much difference,' Hannah told Hermione as Susan and Daphne joined them, 'the songs are very similar but the words are more…magical, I guess.'

'And our instruments are better,' Susan said with a smirk.

Daphne laughed and agreed, 'yeah we enchant them to play so we don't need a whole band to do it for us.'

As they talked the tables had been cleared away and replaced by smaller circular ones surrounding a large square dance-floor.

'Do you know what the music for the first dance is?' Hermione asked Daphne who shook her head.

'No, Sadie's kept it very quiet,' Daphne admitted, it was clear that she was curious about it.

At the end of the room a small band was set up and it began to play as the girls watched. The musical instruments did play themselves in the background. There was one man who was clearly the main singer and two other men who were the backing singers but other than that there was nobody to play the instruments.

Theo took Sadie's hand and led her out to the dance floor as the opening notes of a song began to play. They looked so blissfully happy as they reached the middle of the dance floor. Theo placed his hand on Sadie's shoulder and Sadie placed hers on his arm then they joined hands with their free hands and began to move effortlessly together to the music.

The singers opened their mouths and began to sing the words of the song and Harry smiled at how fitting the song was for Sadie and Theo.

'_I remember what you wore on the first day,_

_You came into my life and I thought hey,_

_You know this could be something,_

_Cause everything you do and words you say,_

_You know that it all takes my breath away,_

_And now I'm left with nothing.'_

'I remember everything about that day on the Hogwarts Express,' Theo whispered to Sadie as they glided around the dance floor together.

'Me too,' Sadie admitted with a small smile, 'I'll never forget any part of it.'

'Neither will I,' Theo promised, kissing Sadie lightly on the lips.

'_So maybe it's true,_

_That I can't live without you,_

_And maybe two is better than one,_

_But there's so much time,_

_To figure out the rest of my life_

_And you've already got me coming undone_

_And I'm thinking two is better than one.'_

'When did you realise you wouldn't be a playboy bachelor forever?' Sadie asked Theo with a smile, she felt perfectly content as they danced together.

Theo smiled, recalling the moment as clearly in his head as if it had just happened, 'the morning after I saved you from the dark tower in 7th year,' he admitted, 'I sat up all night talking to you, I was just praying that you would wake up and when you did I knew one way or another I'd never be the same again.'

Sadie's cheeks were slightly pink as she beamed at this, Theo smiled, 'so what made you realise?'

'The day I saved you from the dark tower,' Sadie said, drawing parallels with the moment that Theo had known.

'I don't remember it all that well,' Theo admitted, he only knew what he had been told already by Sadie, 'I know you don't remember it but I kissed you, and then levitated you back to our hide-out and I got pushed out so everyone could work to save your life. I was watching from the side-lines just praying you'd make it so I could tell you how I felt.'

'Why didn't you?' Theo asked curiously, it was something he had always wondered about.

Sadie smiled up at her Husband, 'Honestly, I never had the guts.'

'_I remember every look upon your face,_

_The way you roll your eyes,_

_The way you taste,_

_You make it hard for breathing,_

_Cause when I close my eyes and drift away,_

_I think of you and everything's okay,_

_I'm finally now believing.'_

'Sadie?'

'Yeah?'

'I'm glad I eventually got the guts to ask you out,' Theo admitted with a sheepish smile, 'I mean I know it took a good prod from Daphne, but I'm glad I did it.'

'I'm glad too,' Sadie admitted, talk about an understatement.

'_That maybe it's true,_

_That I can't live without you_

_And maybe two is better than one_

_But there's so much time,_

_To figure out the rest our lives,_

_And you've already got me coming undone,_

_And I'm thinking two is better than one._

_And I figure now that all is said and done,_

_Two is better than one.'_

As the song ended everyone clapped as Sadie and Theo kissed in the middle of the dance-floor. With the initial first dance over it was time for the other formalities which included the Best Man and Maid of Honour to dance together. Theo and Sadie continued to dance in the middle of the floor and Draco approached Daphne.

'Harry can I borrow your fiancé for this dance?' Draco asked in amusement.

'Ah I suppose so,' Harry said with a smirk, 'since it is tradition after all.'

Daphne chuckled at Draco's outstretched hand and took it. They walked onto the dance floor together and effortlessly slipped into the dance position as a different song played in the background.

'How about a dance Hermione?' Harry asked, holding out his hand to her. Hermione smiled and took his hand, letting him lead her to the dance floor.

The others followed suite with Neville and Hannah making their way over, along with Susan and Percy and Blaise and Lavender.

Even Salvadora came onto the dance floor to dance with Sorenson and Lotus rather sweetly danced with Lacey while Oscar ran around hyperactively not getting told off which was something he didn't get to do very often and appeared to be enjoying.

They all danced together, changing partners and laughing, letting their hair down and not worrying about the world for the moment.

* * *

><p>'It's time to cut the cake!' Daphne announced excitedly with their photographer, a certain Colin Creevey, on her heels.<p>

Sadie and Theo pulled themselves off of the dance floor to where a large three tier cake was standing. Atop it were two moving figures that looked very much like Sadie and Theo, they were waving happily. The cake had pale blue icing to match the theme of the wedding and everyone gathered around as Sadie held the knife in her hand and Theo helped her to cut the first slice of cake.

Everyone clapped and took photos and Neville said, 'I can't wait to try that cake.'

Hannah rolled her eyes at her fiancé, 'is that all you think about?'

'What cake?' Neville asked as Harry sniggered, 'no I think about other food as well.'

This caused Harry to burst out laughing as everyone sat down to eat their cake before getting back to the dancing.

It was now time for the last planned event of the evening which was Sadie's dance with her Father, or in this case Sorenson. At the same time Theo was to dance with his Mother, or in this case his Step-Mother, Salvadora.

'Well done Sadie,' Sorenson said quietly to his sister as they danced together, 'you've already created a better life for yourself than I did.'

'Don't say that,' Sadie said somewhat sadly, 'you have Oscar.'

'I know,' Sorenson said with a smile, 'and I love him more than anything in the world. But you and Theo did things the way I wanted too. You're married now and you're going to have a bunch of little monsters and a house. It's how I wanted to do things, but Oscar came along.'

'It doesn't matter how you get there,' Sadie said, leaning up and kissing her brother on the cheek, 'you're a fantastic Dad and Oscar loves you. Anyway we don't have a house, we're living with Mum after the honeymoon.'

'I wouldn't be so sure about that,' Sorenson said cryptically as the song ended.

'I'm pleased for you Theo,' Salvadora was saying meanwhile to her son, 'I think Sadie's very good for you.'

'Thank you,' Theo said, rather proud that he managed to get to this point where everyone in his life was proud of him, and he was grateful that they all liked Sadie.

'I must admit there was a stage when I wondered if I would ever attend your wedding,' Salvadora said honestly, 'and I was very worried about the way you were behaving, but I'm so grateful to Sadie for saving you from that life.'

Theo nodded, his thoughts far away, 'I'm just as grateful to her,' he said with a smile.

At that point Lacey rushed over and asked, 'Mum, can't I dance with Theo now?'

Salvadora chuckled, 'of course you can,' she said, kissing her step-son on the cheek and leaving the dance floor.

'Come here squirt,' Theo said fondly as he held his sisters hands, she was short for her age.

'I'm not a squirt,' Lacey objected as she danced with her older brother.

'You are to me,' Theo said, 'look how tiny you are.'

'I am not tiny!' Lacey said as she glared at her brother.

'Alright you're not tiny,' Theo conceded with a smile, 'are you happy that Sadie married me?'

Lacey nodded, 'I like Sadie, she's nice. I don't know why she married you.'

'Oi that's not fair,' Theo said as his sister stuck out her tongue at him.

Theo narrowed his eyes at her, 'I'll get you for that,' he said as he tickled her and she shrieked loudly with laughter.

Somewhere amongst all of her giggling the song ended and Sadie walked over to Theo.

'Hey,' Theo said with a smile as he threw his sister over his shoulder easily, 'what's up?'

Sadie laughed as Lacey hit Theo on the back asking her to let him down, 'Harry and the others have something to tell us.'

'That sounds interesting, and cryptic,' Theo said as he put Lacey down, 'run along you, there's extra cake in the kitchen, I bet Rosmerta will give you a slice if you ask nicely.'

Lacey grinned and rushed away in the direction of the kitchen. Theo turned to Sadie and slipped his hand in hers, 'what does Harry and his mysterious gang have to tell us?'

'I have no idea,' Sadie admitted, 'they were giving nothing away.'

'That's because it's a surprise,' Harry said with a grin as the bride and groom reached them on the edge of the dance floor.

'Wow this isn't just a couple of you,' Sadie said, looking at the group gathered to tell them this secret. Harry, Draco and Neville were at the front with Daphne, Hermione, Hannah and Susan all in on it too.

'We have a wedding gift for you,' Draco said with a smirk.

'And I know you said you would open all of your gifts when you got home from your honeymoon,' Neville added, 'but we have to give you this one now.'

'Okay…' Theo said with narrowed eyes, 'should I be scared?'

'Nah course not,' Harry said happily, 'this is your present,' he held out a small box to Sadie who took it with a frown.

'Go on then, open it,' Daphne said with a grin.

Sadie carefully removed the lid from the box and was even more confused when she found a set of keys with two silver keys attached to it.

'What do they open?' Sadie asked, but Theo was now looking at his friends suspiciously.

'The little key opens the gate in the roof garden,' Neville said matter of factly.

'And the big key unlocks the front door to your newly renovated 10 bedroom, 6 story house at number 11 Grimmauld Place,' Harry said casually.

Sadie and Theo stared at Harry in shock for a moment. As they tried to comprehend this Harry added, 'it's from all of us, we all contributed.'

'You're serious?' Theo asked, still completely shocked, 'we have our own house?'

'We're serious,' Draco said with a grin.

'Wow,' Theo said, and Sadie nodded, still speechless.

'Thanks guys,' Theo said, completely serious as he hugged every single one of his friends and then grabbed his wife and hugged her, 'we have a house Sadie!'

'I know!' Sadie said with a grin, the shock wearing off and the excitement taking over, 'Thank you so much, all of you, but thank you Harry because I know this was your idea.'

Harry shrugged and blushed slightly as Sadie launched herself at him and kissed him on the cheek while Theo, Draco and Neville roared with laughter.

Sadie made Harry dance with her after that and for the rest of the night the friends danced and laughed and didn't have a care in the world. It was a wonderful way to live and Harry loved it.

* * *

><p>As it got later the reception drew to a close which meant that it was time to say goodbye to Sadie and Theo as they left for their honeymoon.<p>

'Thanks for everything today Draco,' Theo said quietly to his best man, hugging him and pretending to say goodbye when what he really said was, 'owl me updates of the Quidditch league yeah? Sadie's banned newspapers.'

Draco chuckled and said, 'Sure man,' then added, 'have a good honeymoon.'

Theo nodded and waited for his wife to finish saying goodbye to Daphne.

'Promise you'll look after Swiper for me,' Sadie was saying to her best friend, referring to her tabby cat.

'I promise,' Daphne said shaking her head in amusement, 'I have a cat too remember?'

'Sorry,' Sadie said with a blush, 'I just don't leave him alone very often.'

'Don't worry, he'll have great fun with Lightning,' Daphne said, it was a source of great amusement to Draco and Theo that Daphne's cat happened to be called Lightning and Harry happened to have a lightning bolt shaped scar.

'Okay, I trust you' Sadie said with a smile as she hugged Daphne.

'Have a good time on your honeymoon,' Daphne said, kissing her best friend on the cheek.

'I will,' Sadie said, taking Theo's hand and letting him help her into their vehicle which was a beautiful pale blue carriage that looked like a smaller version of the one that had brought the Beauxbatons students to Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament. Two large pure white hippogriffs were at the front to pull it. On the back of the carriage hung a sign that said 'Just Married'.

'Bye!' Sadie and Theo called as the Hippogriffs took off and the carriage began to rise into the air and move away.

Everyone stood in a crowd out on the street waving to the carriage and when it began to move further away most people began to apparate home until eventually only a few people were left watching the carriage become a dot in the far distance.

Draco and Harry wound up standing alone with the others standing slightly further away, they were both staring at the dot in the distance.

'It's funny isn't it?' Harry said thoughtfully, 'how war can change absolutely everything.'

Draco nodded, and mused, 'Yeah, you can't go back to being the same after it, can you?'

Harry shook his head, he never thought he would be here today at the wedding of two Slytherins he had barely known before returning to do an 8th year at Hogwarts.

'It changes us all,' Draco said, as the dot vanished behind a cloud and Sadie and Theo were gone.

Harry smiled slightly and took his eyes away from the sky to glance over at Daphne who was smiling and laughing with Hermione. Neville stood nearby with his arm around Hannah, and Percy and Susan were hugging and talking in undertones about something.

'I'm glad it did,' Harry said as he turned his gaze to Draco.

'Maybe things didn't turn out the way we expected them too before the war,' Draco said with a small smile as he looked over to his fiancé who looked radiant as she grinned and talked to Daphne. They had both let go so much, now that they weren't in the middle of a war they seemed so much more free, and happy, 'but I think they turned out better.'

'I think you're right,' Harry agreed, maybe he hadn't ended up with Ginny like everyone had wanted and expected him too, but then that wouldn't have been realistic because he had loved Ginny before the war, then the war had turned him into a completely different, almost unrecognisable man. Ginny had been his teenage girlfriend, Daphne was his future wife.

Draco smiled slightly, looking once more at the sky rather than at Harry, 'we go into a war as naïve children Harry, and we emerge as men. I can't see a world in which the war wouldn't have changed us.'

Harry smiled fondly at his Slytherin friend, 'You know something? For a moment there you sounded like Dumbledore.'

'Shut up Scarhead.'

**The End **** (for now).**

_**A/N: I have ended this for the moment because I've got a lot going on with trying to write my own novel at the moment and I felt this was getting stuck on the backbench. I have left it somewhere like this for a reason though because I may well come back to it in some months or years and write more. I think it's likely that I'll write a sequel series at some point about the gang in the summer and then going into their jobs and the boys doing Auror training etc. If and when I do this I'll post an extra chapter at the end of THIS story saying 'hey all, check my profile because I've uploaded the next instalment' or something like that, but like I said it's only a possibility and if I do end up doing it I don't know when it will be. **_

_**I'm going to try and finish the other stories I've got in the works ('Eyes Open', 'The War is Over' and 'Letter to Me') and I'm working on a few that aren't on just yet but might pop up shortly so keep your eyes peeled and I really hope you've all enjoyed the story!**_

_**Thanks for reading**_

_**Holly xxx**_


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